Rise of the Sun
by reaperstone
Summary: Two geologists who have stumbled across the most important discovery in all of humanity, deep within an ancient Egyptian tomb. Everything humanity knows as a species, has changed. With a new Egyptian god revealed, the fate of earth and humanity lingers.
1. Chapter 1

Apocolyptica

**Chapter 1**

"Aiden, what are these strange markings here?"

Bill's gaze was focused on a certain portion of the wall. Aiden turned his gaze to examine what Bill was talking about.

"I don't know Bill. This marking resembles a human, but it has what looks like an aura around it. Maybe it's an undiscovered Egyptian god. The Egyptians have many gods; maybe it's possible that one hasn't been discovered. Maybe this one was a forbidden one."

Bill pondered the comment for a moment.

"That would explain why this tomb was already buried so deep under the ground before the sands covered it and buried it even deeper. The Egyptians went through great lengths to make sure that this tomb was never found."

Aiden nodded in agreement and then noticed something even stranger underneath the carving.

"Shine some more light over this way I think there's something carved in the wall underneath it."

Bill turned around and grabbed a lantern from the cold floor of the tomb and held it up high so the entire wall lit up.

"What do you make of this, Bill?"

As they looked at the lower portion of the wall they realized the importance of their discovery. The Egyptian gods themselves were bowing down to a human-like figure that was floating above them. Ra, Hathor, Sekhmet, Nut, Geb, Osiris, Seth, Horus, Isis, Thoth, Anubis, Ma'at, Amun, and Bastet were all bowing before the being floating above them. Aiden stared and then was struck with shock.

"Bill, this isn't just a new Egyptian god, it's a god that ruled over all of the other gods. According to these carvings, they called it Apocolyptica. We have to report this to GPE. Pull your camera out and start videotaping this. We need to send a live feed directly back to headquarters."

Bill pulled out a camera that had Geo Planetary Excavations painted onto the side of it. He set up a tripod and turned on the camera's built in light. He took a long roll of wire and a suitcase and headed towards the entrance of the tomb. Once he was outside he opened the suitcase to reveal a full keyboard monitor and mini satellite dish. He took the wire and plugged the end of it into a slot on the side of the monitor. He positioned the satellite dish so that it was facing northwest and a link began to upload. A beautiful woman appeared on the screen.

"Bill? Bill is that you?"

Bill's face opened into a large smile.

"Yes Mariya, it's me."

Mariya instantly looked concerned having noticed that Aiden was not present.

"How is Aiden doing?"

Bill quickly replied

"He is great! We just made a major discovery and we need to send live video feed to you guys back at headquarters so you can start analysis on it right away."

Mariya's fingers snapped into action at lightning speeds.

"Alright just give me a second to set up the system to record…and…ok start feeding it to me."

Bill unclipped a two way radio from his belt.

"Aiden, start the feed."

A minute passed and Aiden's voice came over the radio.

"Alright Bill you should be seeing everything now."

The monitor lit up with what the camera was seeing deep within the tomb.

"Are you seeing this Mariya?"

Mariya's facial expression changed to curiosity.

"Yes Bill. It's like nothing we have ever seen before."

Bill seemed pleased to hear this.

"According to the carvings we found Mariya, they called it Apocolyptica."

Mariya's voice poured with excitement.

"This is amazing Bill! I have it up on the main screen of the complex and everyone is running back and forth trying to make sense of it. This is big. We have to send more people out there! We have to get deeper into that tomb. So much we have to do and so little time to do it. I have to go Bill, tell Aiden I love him."

Bill gave her a salute.

"Will do Mariya!"

Mariya snapped to get his attention.

"One more thing before you head back inside Bill."

Bill turned back to the computer

"Yes?"

Mariya's face was completely serious now.

"I'll need you to stay in touch every thirty minutes so we can keep you updated on what the current situation is. I want you and Aiden to try and go deeper into the tomb without getting yourselves killed and try to find more clues to this 'Apocolyptica'."

Bill laughed.

"Yes ma'am!"

Bill killed the link and made a protective covering around the system with a tarp that he had in his backpack. After he was sure that the computer would be safe from the sand and the wind, he went back down to meet up with Aiden. Aiden's eyes were fixed with anticipation on Bill as he came down the tunnel.

"Mariya says she loves you man."

Aiden let out a deep grunt of displeasure.

"Mariya answered the phone?"

Bill gave Aiden a sympathetic look.

"Yeah sorry bud, she was in a hurry because of the big news or I would have told you to come up there. The good news is we have to check in every thirty minutes, so at least you will get another chance to talk to her right?"

Aiden's expression lit up slightly.

"I guess so."

Bill started gathering the equipment.

"She said she wants us to go deeper into the tombs and try and find more clues to this new god."

Aiden stood up and began to help.

"Well we better get to work then Bill."

Aiden took up the lantern and grabbed the camera from the tripod. He began to slowly walk deeper into the tomb with Bill close behind him, holding another lantern.

"So what do you make of this all Aiden?"

Aiden had a puzzled tone in his voice.

"I don't know. This is all new stuff. Why would the Egyptians hide something as important as a god that was above all gods?"

Bill quickly replied

"Maybe they wanted to protect something."

Aiden focused his eyes.

"I don't know Bill, but I think I see a room ahead."

As the two men walked down the tunnel, it opened up into a large room that was covered in Hieroglyphs and pictures that were carved into the walls. As they walked inside the lanterns lit up the entire room. They noticed that out of all of the carvings on the walls, one picture that was directly in front of them seemed to stick out more than the others. It was a massive carving of Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun battling the newly discovered Apocolyptica. As they approached and light flooded the room even more, they noticed that this picture was elevated from the rest of the room. There was a shrine-like object in the center that had three steps up to a central square that contained a torch at each corner. Aiden was completely stumped.

"What is this Bill?"

Bill looked at him equally lost.

"I have no idea. I am just as surprised as you my friend."

As they climbed the steps the lanterns revealed that in the exact center of the square, there was an elevated, perfectly round tablet protruding from the ground.

Bill examined it closely.

"It must be a pressure switch."

They both agreed. Aiden began to make his way towards the switch. Bill looked very concerned.

"Aiden, I don't think that is such a good idea. It may be a trap."

Aiden chuckled.

"Bill, we have come this far. It is too late to turn back now so we might as well see what this activates."

Bill hesitantly agreed. Aiden inched forward and slowly put his weight onto the switch. The grating of stone against stone was loud and echoed throughout the room. The switch fell all the way down and came to a halt. Aiden let out a very nervous laugh.

"Well that was interesting. See, nothing bad happened Bill."

As he spoke those words, the door to the room slammed down and their lanterns dimmed and went out. The room came to life as the Hieroglyphs all began to glow an electric blue. Above each torch a blue globe formed that seemed to be made of pure energy. They started out small and grew larger and larger while they simultaneously moved towards the center of the shrine. They kept growing until they were large enough to contain Aiden and Bill inside them, then they fused together into a single sphere. The sphere began to spin rapidly, dust swirling around it faster and faster until suddenly it instantly shrunk into nothing. The room became pitch black, and slowly began to come into sight as the lanterns regained their light. The entrance to the room slowly rose back up, and the only traces that anything had happened were the swirls of dust left that surrounded the room, and the camera sitting in the dust facing the shrine. Bill and Aiden were gone. Aiden and Bill suddenly appeared in the center of a small, dark circular room with only one exit. They were on their hands and knees sick to their stomachs from the teleportation. They both slowly rose to stand at full height. Aiden was the first to regain his nerve.

"Are you ok Bill?"

Bill slowly rose and began to dust himself off.

"I think so, I'm just really sick at my stomach. What the hell was that?"

Aiden gave Bill a blank look.

"I don't know Bill, but I can tell you we are definitely not in the tomb anymore. We should get out of here and try and find out where we are."

Bill nodded in agreement.

"Ok that sounds like the best idea for now."

Bill and Aiden began to walk towards the exit and as they approached a blue force field appeared. They were both baffled by this technology.

"What the hell? Bill, this is beyond any technology we have ever seen."

Bill smiled.

"It must be Japanese."

Aiden didn't laugh.

"This is no time for jokes Bill!"

Bill stopped laughing.

"Sorry Aiden, I couldn't resist. I was just trying to lighten the mood up."

As they stood their moving their hands across the smooth surface of light a voice sounded out of nowhere. The voice was loud and menacing, but harmonic and angelic. It started as a whisper and grew to a booming yell.

"Do you realize what you have done! You have just put the entire human race in jeopardy! All that we have worked for to keep Earth from him has been compromised!"

The voice shook Bill and Aiden's very souls as it grew sharp and piercing. Aiden began to timidly speak.

"We, we don't know what you're talking about. Who are you? Where are we?"

The booming voice roared back.

"Silence! I am Ra, as your race has deemed my name."

Aiden and Bill looked at each other completely confused. Bill finally rose up the courage to speak.

"You mean Ra, as in the Egyptian god of the sun?"

Ra's voice now became soothing and concerned.

"The human race has always been too curious. You do not even realize the importance of the discovery you have just made."

A rather large man suddenly appeared in front of the force field. He held an object up to the force field and when it made contact the force field blurred and then faded. Ra's voice boomed again.

"Follow that man because you must see what your actions have done. You must see what we have worked so hard to do."

Aiden and Bill cautiously stepped outside of the room. The man led them down a long hallway that was lit in the same bluish light that the previous room was. As they walked the section they were in lit up with the blue light and went back to pitch black as they passed. They came to a large round door that was made out of a metal that Bill and Aiden had never seen before. The man put the object up to the door and the door split from the center into eight pieces. Each of the pieces went up into the wall in a spiral like manner. They walked into a massive room along a bridge made of the same material as the force field. The bridge was suspended in mid air with a circular end that looked exactly like the one in the tomb. As they stepped onto it, the room turned pitch black except for the circle they were standing in which was lit a bright blue. Bill and Aiden noticed that the strange man had disappeared.

As they were about to ask each other about it, a man in a robe appeared in mid air in front of them. They could not make out anything but the outline of his body due to the darkness of the room. Aiden spoke up.

"Who are you?"

Aiden suddenly heard someone talking to him, but inside of his head. He looked at Bill and it was obvious by the look on his face that he was experiencing the same thing. In an angelic tone it began to speak.

"I am the one earth calls Ra. I am ruler of this ship. In your language it would translate as the Boat of the Sun."

As he spoke those words, the room began to gain light, but it was not from an artificial light. The light seemed at first to come from the billions of stars that began to show from the spherical ceiling of the room. Bill and Aiden both stared in awe of the beautiful sight. There was a large object in the center of the ceiling however that stuck out among the stars. Ra began to speak out loud this time.

"The object you see now is the sun."

Aiden and Bill look dumbstruck and were about to speak when Ra cut them off.

"The reason we are so close and are not incinerated or blinded is because I am blocking the heat on this side of the star. We are on the precise opposite side that is shining towards the earth, so that the planet does not notice a difference."

Aiden was the first to ask.

"So you are really in control of the sun?"

Ra focused his gaze upon Aiden.

"You misunderstand Aiden."

Aiden was petrified that Ra knew his name without it being spoken.

"All will become clear to you both in just a moment."

As he spoke those words he disappeared and the room lit up. They were in the desert again. Ra began to narrate.

"Long ago, when the first civilization was born there were a select few that were gifted. They were drawn together by a psychic connection and formed a friendship. This group of people is known by the human race as the Egyptian Gods. There was one particular person in the group that seemed to always, stand out amongst the rest of us. As you recently discovered you would know him as Apocolyptica. This particular 'god' was always particularly aggressive. He was quick to anger, and ruthless to punish those that were not amongst our group. His mind and mental power developed much faster than our own and he would use it against his enemies to torture and torment them. As we grew up, our psychic abilities expanded and by the time we were the age of five in your world, we were smarter than you could ever possibly imagine becoming. We formed a council to oversee our civilization. We established a land that you now call Egypt. Egypt at that time was lush and full of vegetation. It also was much larger. The 'Sahara Desert' used to be completely forested and all belonged to Egypt. The Nile River was there even then and is one of the last remnants of what took place in our time.

As our council matured we developed the ability to read people's minds and were eventually able to even move large objects with nothing but a single thought. When we reached the age of around twenty in your world, our minds had matured so much that we were able to stop our bodies from aging. We were even able to morph our bodies into different forms. We began to wonder why we few had such powers as compared to the rest of the Egyptians. We each sat groups of them down with us and all of us pried into their minds to try and discover why they did not possess the same abilities we did. We found out that there is a mental lock on a normal human's brain. We couldn't answer why we were able to unlock it within ourselves or if we were just born that way. Apocolyptica felt threatened by the fact that there could be more than just us. He suggested to the council that we put an additional psychic barrier within the human mind to prevent it from being unlocked in the case that more humans like ourselves were born. We took a vote and out of the fifteen of us, eight voted that we implement the barrier. We took all of the Egyptians and grouped them up and focused on their minds. The barrier was created. With each child had after that, the barrier would be in their genetic code and would be passed on from generation to generation unless removed by one of the council. We also decided that we would wipe the Egyptians memories of everything they had known of us before. This is why the referred to us as gods. Without the previous knowledge of us growing up with them, they could only view our abilities as supernatural. They were clueless to the fact that the same abilities lay dormant within their own minds.

We decided as a council that we needed to explore the rest of the planet and expand the civilization. We each split up and went separate directions in groups of two. Even though we knew how things worked, we had no idea what dangers may lay in other areas of the planet. Apocolyptica and I were designated as partners. As we were traveling we came across something rather interesting. There was a massive crater in the ground with the meteorite still intact. Your scientists later rediscovered it in the region you know as Arizona. However, we had already taken the meteorite long ago. As we approached the massive hole we realized that there was a strange metal buried deep into the center of the crater. We approached the object and Apocolyptica reached out and touched the meteorite. As soon as he touched it his skin exploded from his body and what was left turned into a being made of pure energy. It also granted him the knowledge of where and how to use the metal. We were able to transport the meteorite back to Egypt.

Upon arrival we were greeted by the others who were obviously curious of the new discovery, and Apocolyptica's new appearance. It was at that point that Apocolyptica's natural aggressiveness combined with his new found power began to slowly corrupt him. He taught us how to use the metal to create ships that were able to travel through space. Everything you see in this room is the direct result of what we learned from him and that meteorite. As time went on, humans began to become overly curious. Even though most worshiped us, there were a select few that urged to understand how our powers worked. This number started to increase at a rapid rate. The council was gathered in order to discuss a solution to the problem. There were mainly two sides to the argument that ensued. Apocolyptica wanted to exterminate them all. Even though the barriers were put into their brains, he still felt extremely threatened by the humans. My side on the other, wanted to find a more peaceful way to resolve the problem. Apocolyptica and a select few others decided to take matters into their own hands. They started slaughtering the humans by the thousands. The rest of the remaining council and myself confronted them. A massive battle took place and the land was forever changed by it. Most of Egypt had been completely leveled. I am sure as geologists you two know what really lays below the 'Sahara.' There is evidence of a once lush land full of rivers and foliage. Your satellite imaging technology has shown you that.

Our battle left a permanent scar on the land. Both sides equally worn from fighting wanted to seek a truce. It was decided that instead of destroying humanity, and destroying the planet, we would leave earth and humanity to grow on its own. We used our powers together and buried Egypt in sand. We all parted ways. As years passed and we watched humanity grow and advance on its own, it came to our attention that Apocolyptica was planning to wipe humanity out once again. He released a plague upon the people. Your history deemed it 'the black plague.' Both sides reformed and this time a battle in space took place. As the fight was going on I sent Geb, which the Egyptians called 'God of the Earth', to wipe the plague from the land.

The battle in space went on for centuries until both sides had to retreat for supplies. About halfway through the fight however, Apocolyptica disappeared. He just recently showed back up and is more powerful than ever. He also found something lurking deep in the universe. It is a Leviathan and has the capability to destroy a planet and absorb the thermal energy as sustenance. Now here we are, preparing for our next assault. You two have come into the picture and Apocolyptica knows it. This changes everything."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2  
**

Ra paced the room and then suddenly turned his gaze to Aiden.

"It is most unfortunate that you have discovered the truth. Now that you know, Apocolyptica will surely see humanity as a threat he must immediately deal with. He will seek to destroy the human race. Earth, and your people, have only days before the inevitable."

Aiden and Bill's faces were petrified with shock. After a few seconds Aiden mustered the nerve to speak.

"So you're saying our actions have doomed earth? Everyone we know and love are going to die?"

Upon saying this Aiden looked at the ring on his left hand.

Ra looked concerned.

"Do not blame yourselves. It was inevitable that humanity would discover this secret. There was no way to stop it. It seems however that fate has brought you both to this place and I sense something extraordinary working in the background when I am in your presence."

Ra stepped towards them and stopped at the edge of a circle with a very intricate design held within it. There was a smaller circle in the center that had spider webbed edges going to smaller circles that were in the outer ring. There were six outer circles in total. Ra commanded Bill and Aiden to step forward into the center of the marking.

"I am about to give you both the most powerful weapon ever known. I am going to shatter the psychic barriers within your minds and unlock their full potentials. I warn you now, limit your thoughts as soon as this is completed. Your mind will be immensely more active and will be able to do things you have only ever imagined."

Bill gave Aiden a concerned look. Aiden nodded towards him and they both stepped into the circle. Ra held up both arms and pointed his palms towards them. His right palm in a direct line to Aiden's forehead and his left towards Bill's. Ra closed his eyes and began to chant under his breath. The design on the floor lit up the same brilliant blue as it had done at the dig site. Lightning began to spark from the design on the ground. It wrapped around them and forked towards their heads. It branded itself into their foreheads and seared itself into their minds. As this energy soaked into their minds, their eyes began to morph. Their pupils and irises merged and became a single black circle. As the energy was absorbed, a faint light began to appear in this newly formed blackness. It grew until it was the size of the circle, and then began to spark continuously. Ra took a few steps back.

"It is done. Remember limit your thoughts for a while."

No sooner had Ra said this Aiden turned towards the doorway. On the other side of the door, stood the two guards. Aiden could hear their thoughts through the door even though it was a foot thick and was sealed tightly. One of the guards was angry with him and Bill for jeopardizing the human race. This enraged Aiden for some reason and before he could realize what was going on, his new powers jumped into action. The huge door glowed for a split second and then burst into a billion microscopic fragments and then dissolved into midair. The guards both whipped around in surprise and before they could do anything else Aiden had pulled the one that had upset him into the room. The guard began to levitate in the air about three feet off of the ground. Aiden created a sphere around the man. It zapped to life with electricity and began to strike the guard hundreds of times each second. Each strike caused a piece of the guard to burst into its cellular pieces and then dissolve.

"Enough! Aiden control your thoughts and emotions. Concentrate on nothing other than obtaining a calm self."

Ra said this with a very calm voice. He looked at the guard and then waved his right hand. The sphere disappeared and the guard dropped to the ground. Ra glared at him and his body began to regenerate at a very rapid rate. Ra then looked at the door and blinked. The door rematerialized in an instant. Ra blinked once again and both guards memories were wiped up until ten minutes before this occurred. Ra then commanded them to leave to their quarters for the time being.

Ra looked at Bill to make sure that he wasn't going to make an incident himself. Bill was in complete concentration to keep his mind in check. Ra then turned his attention to Aiden.

"Aiden. You must calm yourself."

Ra spoke in the same angelic voice as before. The tone of his voice calmed Aiden and allowed him to regain control of his mind.

"You both will become accustomed to your new powers quickly. Even though it has been locked away within your minds, it will come as natural as breathing within the next few days."

Aiden looked at Ra with terror in his face.

"What happened? Why did I almost kill that man without me even thinking of doing it?"

Ra smiled for the first time.

"Like I stated before, you will have abilities that you only ever dreamed of. Your brain is so active right now it could be considered alive all by itself. You are upset about Apocolyptica and the news I have given you about Earth and humanity. These emotions act as catalysts and your brain acts upon them subconsciously. It is much like breathing. You still do it even when you are not thinking about it. You will quickly be able to master your emotions and block them from interfering with your actions until you need them."

Aiden now looked confused.

"What do you mean by 'need' them?"

Ra's smile persisted.

"In times of crisis where you are in a tight situation. Allowing your emotions into your thought processes can give you the upper hand. They will boost your powers significantly in different ways for each different emotion. You have already witnessed guilt."

For the first time since the unlocking, Bill spoke.

"If that was just guilt, what are we capable of if angered? This is a terrifying feeling. There is so much power at our disposal. It almost feels like too much. Like it isn't really happening and this is all a dream. Why us? Why Aiden and I Ra?"

Ra's face became serious again.

"I cannot answer that question Bill. Fate has brought you here and even I will not argue with it and its motives."

Bill looked confused.

"You speak of fate as if it were a living breathing thing."

Ra let out a deep sigh.

"If you had witnessed the many acts of heroism that I have; all of the horrific tragedies I have had to witness over the millennia. If you only knew what I know, you would believe the same. Get some rest. I will begin your training tomorrow."

Ra exited through a door at the opposite end of the room. Two guards, different from the previous two, came in and instructed them to follow. They took Bill and Aiden to a large room and then left. The room was rather simple. It had two panels towards the back of the room that were spaced about fifteen feet apart. There was another panel on the left side of the room that was next to a door. Aiden and Bill each walked to one of the panels towards the back of the room. They recognized the symbol in the center of the panel as the same one the guard put the strange object in to gain entry into Ra's room. Aiden took his hand and put it over the console. With a simple thought the console came to life and object made of what seemed to be pure energy appeared. Bill did the same. Aiden took a few steps and sat down on the object. It was supportive, but felt like he was literally sitting on nothing but air. Bill and Aiden retired for the night. Aiden's mind was alive with images. He saw Mariya. He stroked her hair and kissed her cheek as if she were standing in the room right beside him. Then the images shifted. Now he was viewing earth from space. It was shattered into pieces. It was a dead planet now.

"Is this what is to come of earth and humanity?"

He asked himself. The images shifted once again. Now he was deep within a cave. He couldn't identify where the cave was exactly, but he knew for a fact that it wasn't on earth. A bone chilling voice spoke to him through the darkness.

"Aiden, do you realize the magnitude of your actions?"

Aiden stood still, terrified.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

There was a faint, evil laugh before it spoke again.

"Your mind has been released. I sensed it the moment it happened. Ra is foolish in his actions. You have not learned to control your mind yet. Because of this I can establish a psychic link with your mind. I can also see he has told you the tale of our being. I am the one you call Apocolyptica."

Something began to appear towards the back of the cave. A man shape figured made its way towards him. As it got closer the cave began to glow an eerie shade of green. Apocolyptica was a being of pure energy just as Ra had described him. There was no visible facial features other than a nose and eye sockets. He was just one solid object.

"Aiden, I am going to destroy earth. I won't stop there though. I will destroy everyone you hold dear to you and more. Humanity as you know it will be exterminated."

Aiden became enraged. He felt the power inside him amplify one hundredfold. Every single cell in his body pulsed with energy. Apocolyptica held his hand up. As he did this Aiden released the energy in a shock wave of destruction. The cave around them split into pieces as the shock wave slammed into it walls in every direction. The pieces of cave dissolved into nothing after just a few seconds. Sunlight began to shine into the cave. The release of energy had created a massive hole in the mountainside. Apocolyptica's evil laugh pierced the thunderous sound of the mountain crumpling under the stress of the shock wave

"You are strong Aiden, but you still have no control over your power. It is useless against me. If you learn to hone your powers however, you could be a valuable ally. I will make you a deal. If you join me, my side of this war, I will spare the one you hold most dear to you..."

There was a short pause.

"Mariya."

His voice trailed off and there was complete silence.

"It seems we are no longer alone. Consider this offer Aiden."

Aiden's mind went pitch black.

"Wake up Aiden."

As Aiden sat up he found Ra standing at the entrance to their room. Aiden looked over to where Bill had slept and noticed that he was nowhere to be found.

"Bill has already eaten breakfast and is at the training grounds I have prepared for you both."

Aiden looked a little irritated.

"Are you always going to be able to read my mind Ra?"

Ra gave him his usual serious look.

"I will teach you both today how to keep your mind free from the prying of others. Aiden, I need to know everything that Apocolyptica told you before I was able to sever the link between your minds. I will link our minds together so you can show me. It will be much faster."

Ra closed his eyes and before Aiden could even blink, Ra opened his eyes again.

"I see. Aiden, Apocolyptica is a master of deception. You have heard our story. If he was able to deceive so many that had already honed the abilities of their minds, don't you think that he would be able to deceive yourself?"

Aiden took a second to consider this.

"I suppose your right Ra. Did Bill experience the same thing that I did?"

Ra looked concerned.

"If he did I am not able to tell. It is possible that Apocolyptica was more intricate with his defenses in Bill's mind than he was in yours. It is also possible that Bill's own mind shielded itself after Apocolyptica had made his way into Bill's mind. It is not uncommon for the mind to defend itself out of habit."

Aiden started walking towards the door.

"I'll find out whether he did or not. He would tell me if he did."

Ra started out the door and told Aiden to follow him. Ra and Aiden walked down the hallway and took a right at an intersection. This new hallway dead ended at a massive set of doors. As they got closer the doors seemed to just fade away as they walked through them, and then reappear after they had passed. This new room was massive. Ra and Aiden stepped on a platform that began to move across the room at a slow rate. To Aiden's left there was a Cliff side with a massive waterfall that dwarfed Niagara Falls. It fell into a large body of water. The body of water itself came all the way to where the platform was and then dropped off again as if it were another waterfall. When Aiden examined this more thoroughly, he noticed that the water just simply disappeared. Aiden was so preoccupied with the waterfall that he failed to notice the sky. It looked directly into space. There was a planet in the distance that was a royal blue color with land masses that were a brilliant silver. He concluded that they were in a different solar system at this point. To Aiden's right there was a dense forest and a pathway that lead deeper into the trees. Aiden wondered what was at the end of the pathway but quickly dismissed it for the time being. The platform came to a halt at the other end of the room after a few minutes. Ra and Aiden regained their pace and came to another set of massive doors that yet again, melted away. Bill was sitting inside this new room, waiting for them. He looked at them and then focused his gaze on Aiden. A smile lit up on his face.

"I hope you're ready Aiden."

Ra began to lecture Aiden and Bill.

"The greatest thing you two will be able to do with your abilities is manipulate the elements themselves; fire, wind, earth, water, and life. Humans only consider four of the elements. However, life is present all over the universe and is just as key to the balance of the universe as the other elements are. Using the capabilities of your mind, you can manipulate any of the five elements."

Ra held his arm out and opened his hand. The air became visible as it swirled into a sphere floating above his palm. He arranged his fingers in a different formation and the air ignited into flame. Ra took his other hand and motioned it towards the flame. Dust particles collected and swarmed into the flame. Ra took his hands and crushed the sphere in between his two hands. Steam began to spew into the air through his fingers. When his hands pulled apart, he had a sphere of glass in his hands. It was very intricate in its design. As Aiden and Bill examined it, they realized that it was a perfect replica of Earth.

"This is but a small demonstration of what can be done with the elements. Now, I want you both to concentrate. Focus your mind on solely manipulating the water particles in the air. Once you are focused, you will see the billions of particles within the air around you. Once you see them, create a focus point in the center of the particles. Concentrate on this point and will the particles to collect there."

Bill and Aiden both followed Ra's instructions. Bill was the first to form a sphere of water.

"This. This is amazing. I can see every individual molecule, and can control where and what it does."

Upon saying that, Bill's sphere of water collapsed on itself and dissolved back into the air. Ra smirked.

"You must maintain your focus for now Bill. It will take a little time before you can subconsciously control the elements."

After a few more minutes, Aiden finally managed to form his sphere. Ra nodded at him.

"Good work. Take some time to learn to control this action. Release your spheres and reform them. In one earth hour I will return and we will move on to the next step."

Ra turned and left the room. Bill looked at Aiden.

"Don't worry bud, you'll get it down. I think I am just adjusting faster."

Aiden looked a little concerned. Bill took notice and tried to comfort him further.

"Look Aiden, you have always been slow and meticulous in your work. That being said, you always get the job done flawlessly. It may take you a little longer, but it'll pay off for you in the end like it always does."

Aiden smiled.

"Thanks Bill. Let's get to work. We need to learn as fast as possible."

By the time the hour had ended, Aiden and Bill were both able to form spheres of water simultaneously in both hands. They had even figured out how to throw them to each other and keep them from dematerializing back into the air. Ra entered the room and took notice of this.

"I told you that you would learn quickly."

He said this with a smile.

"Let's move on now. Things are about to get a little more complicated. You will now have to learn to manipulate two elements at the same time. You will need to form your spheres of water again."

Bill and Aiden both did this.

"Now, while keeping your sphere intact, focus your mind once again on the air around you. This time instead of focusing on the water particles, concentrate on the air current flowing through the room. Once you see them, you can use your hands to articulate the direction of the current to wherever you are pointing. I want you set your spheres slightly off of the ground, and then direct the air current to them. Then I want you to move the air around the sphere to create a vortex. Manipulate the air until there is a water funnel spinning in front of you."

Bill and Aiden started to concentrate on the task when Ra let out a very short laugh.

"And once you have finished that task, I want you to work on controlling the temperature of the air that is spinning your funnel. While maintaining the sphere, the air spinning around it, and the funnel I want you to cause the water to boil while it is still spinning. I want you to then perform the same action, but freeze the vortex in mid spin."

Aiden and Bill looked at each other with shocked faces. Ra smirked.

"I will give you two earth hours this time." Once again Ra left the room.

Bill and Aiden both set their spheres inches above the ground. They concentrated like Ra had told them. They were amazed that they could actually see the air currents around them. They continuously tried to manipulate the air towards the sphere. Each time they finally got the currents to actually change directions; their spheres would dissipate back into the air. Aiden looked at Bill.

"This is much more complicated than the first task Bill."

Bill looked at Aiden with a desperate look. Sweat poured down both of their faces.

"Aiden we can do this, we just have to concentrate harder."

As soon as Bill had said that, something in Aiden's mind clicked. He thought back to how computers worked on earth; how they multitasked. A computer with a quad core processor basically took whatever work it was given, and split it up between the four processors and tackled it in that approach. If Aiden could figure out how to split the processes that he needed to accomplish between portions of his brain, then maybe he could overcome Ra's challenge. Aiden concentrated like he had been. His sphere of water formed. He took this concentration and realized he was able to place it in a section of his mind. When he did this, it felt like he wasn't thinking about anything at all anymore. He looked down and his sphere was still spinning on the ground. He then started to concentrate again. The air currents became visible. Aiden motioned his hand towards the sphere. The currents quickly moved towards the sphere. He imagined that the air was circulating. As he did this the air currents began to quickly move around the water in a clockwise motion. As it spun faster and faster, the water began to elongate and move upwards. A water funnel now stood there, spinning in place. Bill was staring in amazement.

"How the hell did you do that Aiden?"

As soon as he said that the funnel collapsed and Aiden's sphere was just sitting there once again.

"Bill, imagine your mind as a computer with a billion processors. You can literally take thought processes that your focusing on, and separate them in your mind. You can put them off to the side and your mind will subconsciously do them and allow you to think freely again."

Bill laughed loudly.

"Aiden you're a genius. Leave it to you to figure something like that out."

Only about forty five minutes had passed and Aiden and Bill both had their funnels going. Aiden copied his actions earlier except this time he took his concentration that was keeping the funnel going and put it off in the back of his mind. Now he was free to work on the temperature. This would be tricky to figure out on his own. Ra had told them how to use the water and see the air currents. He didn't say anything or give any hints on how to manipulate temperature. Aiden began to concentrate and could tell that the rooms temperature was seventy degrees. Aiden began to think of ice how cold it was. The room rapidly began dropping in temperature. Aiden let go of the thought immediately. He started to concentrate again, but this time he focused his eyes on his water funnel. The water started making cracking sounds and its pace started to significantly slow. It creaked and cracked and then came to a stop as it froze completely over. Aiden turn to see how Bill's progress was coming along. Bill's water funnel was alive with bubbles and steam was billowing into the air. Bill gave Aiden a triumphant smile.

"Looks like we beat Ra's test; and with a forty minutes to spare at that."

Aiden sprung on this moment to talk to Bill about the dream he had had last night.

"Hey Bill?"

Bill turned his gaze to meet Aiden's.

"Yeah? What's up man?"

Aiden had a troubled look on his face.

"Did you have any..."

There was a long pause.

"Strange dreams last night?"

Bill seemed to know what Aiden was getting at.

"I guess it wasn't just me then. Aiden, did Apocolyptica talk to you in your dreams?"

Aiden nodded his head.

"He confirmed what Ra told us about the destruction of earth. He also made me an offer. He offered to spare Mariya."

Bill looked like he knew the answer before Aiden had even said it.

"Aiden, Apocolyptica is just trying to trick you to pull you onto his side of this war. What ever you do just please, don't join him. I don't want to have to end up fighting my best friend."

Aiden gave him a smile.

"Don't worry about me Bill. I won't be joining his side anytime soon."

Bill put his hand on Aiden's shoulder.

"I am glad to hear that my friend. We may not be able to save the earth, but god as my witness I promise you we will save Mariya and as much of humanity as possible!"

Aiden smiled.

"Thanks Bill, I needed to hear that."


	3. Chapter 3

******Chapter 3**

Ra came through the doors once again.

"I see you have both once again mastered the tasks I have set before you. Your training thus far has also provided you with something neither of you have noticed. Your work so far can be considered exercise for your mind. By training and exercising your minds, they have put up their own internal barriers protecting them. My ability to read your thoughts have constantly been diminishing as your training has progressed. I am now completely unable to read your minds."

Aiden and Bill both looked happy at the sound of that. Bill eagerly spoke up.

"So what's next in our list of training Ra?"

Ra turned to look out into space through openings in the ceiling.

"Now, it is time to free you from the thoughts that bind your mind to what you think you must do to survive."

Bill and Aiden looked at each other in confusion.

"I am going to teach you to train your mind to let go of the need to breath. Taking in oxygen is something your mind thinks it needs to do. From the moment a human is born it is wired into their minds that in order for them to survive they must breath in oxygen. However, this is not true. Once your mind is unlocked it acts a generator. It supplies your body with its own power source to keep it running."

Aiden now looked intrigued.

"So you are asking us to go against our basic human instincts and quit breathing altogether?"

Ra looked at Aiden now.

"You are not 'human' anymore."

Aiden and Bill both smiled.

"He is right about that Aiden. I'm a total badass now!"

They laughed together as Ra waved them towards the exit.

The three of them proceeded back to the panel they had taken earlier. This time it took a different path from the straight one it had taken earlier. It moved towards the huge waterfall they had seen. Ra took them to the center of the waterfall and blocked the water as they went through it into a massive cave.

"This is where this segment of your training is going to take place. The first thing your going to need to do is shield yourself from the weight of the water from bearing down on yourself. Once you have done that gently let the water come down upon your body until you are fully submerged. The tricky part to this will be the feeling you are going to get when you hold your breath. You will not suffocate I assure you but your mind is going to think that is what is happening. This is only because your mind isn't used to the fact that you don't need oxygen anymore. You have spent your entire lives breathing and it takes some practice to just stop. Once you are near the point of suffocation it will suddenly click and you will feel normal, your new normal."

Aiden and Bill both were not looking forward to this task. Bill decided to break the ice.

"Always wondered what it'd be like to be a fish right Aiden?"

Aiden smiled.

"Hah! I suppose that would be an interesting thing to experience."

Ra got their attention with a piercing gaze.

"For this task I will give you both as much time as you need. Start whenever you are ready."

He disappeared.

Aiden and Bill remained silent and got right to work. They easily put their barriers up to keep the water from hitting them. Aiden cleared his mind and tried to imagine just the thought of not breathing ever again. As hard as he tried it seemed like it would be impossible to let go of the instinct to breath. As he held onto his last traces of oxygen, his heart rate began to slow. He began to black out and as he thought his life was going to leave him, he felt his heart rate pick back up. It quickly rose faster and faster till it was beating more than one hundred beats a minute. It was still climbing though. One hundred fifty, two hundred. It finally came to a stop at two hundred fifty beats per minute. This astounded Aiden and even worried him. However, he felt his mind even more active than it already had become. Everything was more clear to him, more detailed. His sense of smell amplified one hundred times. Every drop of water was able to be felt as it came into contact with his skin. Aiden's hearing amplified to the point that he could detect any and all movement from every source in the room. Bill opened his mouth to say something to Aiden but nothing came out. He concentrated and after a moment his voice was able to be heard, even though his lips weren't moving.

"Aiden, I feel strange. And I'm talking to you without moving my lips. What the hell is going on?"

Aiden laughed. His mouth didn't move either.

"Bill I honestly can say I have no idea other than I think we are communicating with our minds now rather than our mouths. It may me because we don't have to breath anymore."

Bill looked a little irritated.

"Well I don't like it, it feels wrong to me."

Aiden smiled.

"You'll get used to it Bill."

Ra appeared in the cave once more.

"I see that you have let your minds take over your bodies. Your heart rates have more than tripled which is a good sign."

Bill spoke up.

"I'm not sure I like this whole psychic talking crap Ra. I am going to be able to talk normal again right?"

Ra gave Bill an intense stare.

"This 'crap' is your normal now Bill. If you are meaning are you going to be able to talk like you used to then yes. It will take some practice because it requires breathing to speak how a human speaks, but with practice it will quickly come back to you."

Bill smiled.

"Well that's good then. As long as I'll be able to speak like I used to then I'll be happy."

Aiden decided to break the ice.

"So what's next on our agenda today Ra?"

Ra looked towards the windows out into space.

"We are going to go on a 'field trip' as you would call them on earth. The first thing you'll want to master is putting a barrier around yourself that will keep you from being crushed. It is a very simple thing to do, just concentrate on yourself and imagine a barrier there. Tell me when you think you have this done please."

Aiden and Bill both began to concentrate. After a few minutes they both let Ra know they were ready. Out of nowhere, two pieces of the cave burst out and flew at Bill and Aiden. They both shattered into a million fragments on impact and neither of them so much as flinched. Bill laughed.

"What you didn't believe us?"

This made Ra smile.

"I just needed to test the strength of your barriers. Now that you have done this, you'll need to learn to teleport yourself to a different location. This is also a very simple process. Just imagine a place in your mind, and will your body to be there and it will happen. Start by keeping your barrier up, and teleporting right outside those windows."

Aiden looked to where Ra was pointing and began to concentrate. He imagined the windows but with himself on the opposite side of them. As he did this, a strange feeling surged through his body. He felt like he was being stretched out like a rubber band. The feeling only lasted for a split second and when he opened his eyes he was floating in the exact spot he saw in his mind, looking at the spot he was at just seconds ago. Bill suddenly appeared next to him. He looked at Aiden and gave the biggest smile Aiden had ever seen Bill make.

"That was the most amazing feeling I have ever experienced Aiden!"

Ra suddenly appeared behind them unnoticed. The only reason they noticed was because a shadow had appeared on the hull of the ship. Aiden spoke up.

"Ra, why weren't we able to sense you appear right behind us like that. We have always been able to tell when you get close to us, so how did you do that?"

Ra seemed impressed.

"That is an excellent question Aiden. As you know from your teachings on earth, sound does not travel through the vacuum of space. Even for us with such amplified senses, we are still unable to hear something go by us when we are in space which is void of any air pressure. You won't be able to detect the sudden change in the area around you either because there is nothing to displace in the vacuum. Without something to displace, it is almost impossible to detect an enemy such as Apocolyptica or one of his followers. When we are training out here, it is very important you stay on guard."

Bill began to laugh.

"Well that's easy to fix. Just make a bubble around yourself that carries air within it, and if something breaches it you'll feel it. Problem solved!"

Ra smirked.

"That is a good plan Bill. In fact, it is exactly what I do to put up a defense around myself on space missions. There is just one problem with it. Although you can constantly go through space with a giant air bubble surrounding yourself, someone as cunning as Apocolyptica could teleport to you so quickly you wouldn't have time to react to the change in air pressure in such a contained area. You must remember, him and I have had centuries and centuries to perfect our minds and learn to use them to their fullest. You have known your power for mere days. You'll get to the point that you will be effective with that tactic quickly, but for now try and rely on your sense of sight and your minds natural instinct to survive."

Bill and Aiden nodded in understanding. Bill spoke up excitedly.

"You said we were going on a field trip? Oh, oh do we get to take school buses? Are we going to Six Flags? I haven't been there in ages!"

Aiden began to laugh under his breath but Ra did not find it amusing.

"As much as you would like to go to 'Six Flags' Bill I am afraid I will have to disappoint you.

Today we will be traveling to other star systems to teach the both of you the advanced manipulation of matter. You have already manipulated the elements minus life, but you still need to learn how to do it on a much more grand scale."

Aiden spoke up.

"So we are going to learn to warp planets and stars?"

Bill rephrased for Aiden.

"No Aiden, we are going to learn to blow the shit out of planets and stars!"

Aiden began to laugh aloud. Once again, Ra was not amused.

"You should lighten up a bit Ra. You gotta have fun doing what your doing. Your like one of those British guards that never laughs or shows emotion."

Ra gave Bill a fairly evil looking smile.

"I could show you emotion, but I am positive it would be hazardous to your health. But we can always give it a try if you would prefer Bill?"

Bill took a moment to ponder the thought.

"On second though, I think I'm good Ra. We should, umm, yeah we should get back to what we were doing."

Ra continued to smile as Aiden tried not to burst out laughing.

"Lock onto my signature and teleport to the same place I go and we will begin."

Ra picked through the milky way until he found a spot he was satisfied with, then he was gone. Aiden and Bill pictured Ra in their minds and were at his side in an instant. The solar system they had entered up in had two stars and seventeen planets with hundreds of moons in orbit. Ra began to speak.

"This system is perfect. We will start with the moons, then the planets so that I can demonstrate with them a few times and your final test will be a star for each of you. By the time we finish off all of these planets and moons you two should both be able to implode the stars at the center, and each of you has one to work with."

Aiden and Bill both seemed excited and eager to get to work. Ra moved towards one of the nearby planets that seemed to have about sixty to seventy moons orbiting around it. He began his lesson.

"The first thing that you are going to need to learn and master is the ability to pull something out of the orbit of another large mass. Moons orbit planets throughout the entire milky way. Both celestial bodies have a tremendous amount of mass held within them especially when they are compared to something as small as one of us. The trick to doing this is focusing on the core of the body. You must channel a fairly large amount of your mind's power as compared to the amount you were having to you use in your previous exercises back on the ship. After you have found the core of the body, in this case this moon directly in front of us, force any and all iron within the core to rapidly start to spin. The catch to this is, you must spin the iron in the core in the opposite direction that it would spin in the body that is holding it within its own orbit. This will cause a magnetic field to form but it will be oppositely charged from the magnetic field of the body it is orbiting. With the oppositely charged magnetic field, the moon will be very easily plucked from the orbit of the body that has captured it. Focus on my actions. Focus on the moon. Feel what is happening within the moon as I perform these tasks. I will slow these steps down for the first few tries so that you can break them down and have a building block for when you attempt to do them yourself."

Ra began to focus his mind on the moon. He locked onto the inner core of the body. Aiden and Bill could feel Ra take his hold on all of the iron that was found there. They felt Ra examine the nearby planet that the moon was orbiting. The motion of its core was spinning in a clockwise direction. Ra took hold of the large amounts of iron within the moon and forced the core to spin counterclockwise. Aiden and Bill could feel the magnetic forces start to emit from the moon. They collided with the magnetic forces of the planet and began to push itself out of its own orbit. Ra set the task of keeping the core spinning counterclockwise in the back of his head. He motioned his hands towards the core and then motioned the moon towards the three of them. The moon went from several thousand miles, to just a few hundred in less than a second. Aiden and Bill flinched as the moon approached at such a quick rate.

"It is as simple as that."

Bill and Aiden both sighed in relief that they weren't pummeled by the moon. Bill looked at Ra with a freaked out face on.

"Holy shit Ra I thought you were gonna hit us with that thing."

Ra smiled.

"If I remember correctly, and I know I do, you are the one that said we need to have fun while doing this correct?"

Ra said this with a hint of satisfaction. Aiden burst out laughing and Bill began to chuckle.

"So you do have a sense of humor? I knew it was in there somewhere Ra."

Ra let his smile persist for a few seconds longer. He became serious once again.

"Now I am going to show the both of you this process a few more times and then let you take over and try it yourself."

Ra repeated the process five more time, speeding up each time he did it. By the time he had done the last moon he did it so fast that the entire process was almost instant. Ra then motioned to Bill and Aiden that it was their turn to give it a shot. Aiden went to one planet and Bill went to another to begin their training. Just as in the starting phases of their training, Bill seemed to progress faster than Aiden was. Within an hour Bill had already managed to pull his first moon out of orbit. On his first try however, he was unable to keep his hold on the iron in the inner core and the moon quickly was pulled back into its original orbit. He let out a sigh and started over.

Aiden was a little discouraged that Bill was so far ahead of him but he liked to take his time with new things as usual. Aiden focused and urged his mind to find every single trace of iron within the inner core no matter how small. It took him about a half hour longer than it had taken Bill, but he finally took hold of it all and began to spin it. The magnetic field once again was felt as it collided with the planets and pushed itself away. Aiden pulled the moon out of the orbit successfully and placed it in a new orbit so that he could start over. As the next hour went on Bill and Aiden tried again and again. By another two hours after that Bill was just mastering his abilities to keep the entire iron core spinning and pull the moon out of orbit. Aiden on the other hand was at the point that he was taking multiple moons out of orbit and colliding them together. Even though Aiden was slower at first, he analyzed every step just like Bill had explained to him earlier. Once Aiden took the time to closely examine the steps, he picked it up at such a fast rate that even Ra was impressed. Bill took note of this and decided he would take his time from then on. Ra spoke to them and told them to meet at their starting location.

"Alright, it seems that the both of you have managed to master your abilities to affect orbits. Now you will be shown how to manipulate planets themselves, no matter how big or small. The exercises your going to be put through are much similar to the ones on the ship. You will need to first do simple things such as raise and lower the temperature on the entire surface of your planets. After you have managed to do that, then work on taking that temperature and turning it from a surface temperature to the planet's internal temperature. In essence, you are going to kill a planet by freezing it all the way through, superheat the planet and cause it to melt its crustal layers, and then put it back to its original state. After you both master this task, we will move on to the more complicated aspects of matter manipulation."

Once again Aiden and Bill began their training. Aiden focused on freezing his planet while Bill focused on melting his. Aiden directed his mind to a single spot on the planets surface. He concentrated first on making a small area of the planet freeze over. He managed to make a circle with a few hundred mile radius freeze on the surface of the planet. He quickly set it aside in his brain so that it would subconsciously remain that way. He began to analyze his situation and quickly found the solution to the problem. He took the process he had set aside in his mind and just copied it. He moved it with each copy until the entire planet was covered. Once the planet was covered he put all of the processes together to form one. He now had a basis to work with to kill the planet and turn it into a big ball of ice. Aiden gave it a thought and tried to mentally force the cold into the innards of the planet. It took far more out of his mind than all of the other exercises had done but he managed to force the cold all the way to the core. The planet was frozen solid. Aiden turned to see how Bill was doing. Bill had kept to his word and taken things slow and steady. His planet was boiling molten rock and glowed as if it were a star in the sky. Both of them simply let go of the processes within their heads and the planets quickly returned back to normal as if nothing had happened at all. With each task given to them, Aiden and Bill seemed to master them faster and faster, even though they were getting progressively harder. Once again, Ra beckoned them to their starting positions.

"You two are both making amazing progress. You are learning things that took the council thousands of years to perfect in just mere earth hours. I think that we can actually skip the next step. I want to see how well you can handle the stars without knowing how to manipulate a planets matter. It will be your final test for the day but I am eager to see the limits of your minds. If I am correct, you both should be able to morph these stars into different stars classes, and implode them into black holes without any help from myself. They are in the same star class as your sun is so it is a good starting point."

Aiden and Bill both looked at each other. Aiden spoke up with a little concern.

"So your not even going to hint to us what we should do Ra?"

Ra smirked.

"I want to test a hypothesis that I have Aiden. If I am correct then the two of you will not need my help and can both retire early today and give your minds a much needed break. Best not to completely overload them the first day no matter how quickly you are needing to train."

Bill turned to Aiden.

"Don't worry bud, we can totally do this. We just need to put our minds together and tackle it as a team. In fact, let's link our minds so know-it-all over here can't tell what we are planning hah."

Aiden smiled.

"Have it your way Bill. Sorry Ra, but you did kind of scare the shit out of me too."

Ra smiled.

"As long as the task is complete I will get the information I am looking for."

Aiden and Bill created a psychic link between their minds so they could see and hear each others thoughts and block Ra's out.

"Any ideas on how we are going to do this Aiden?"

Aiden showed Bill a vision of him shrugging.

"I'm really not too sure where to start Bill. The best thing that I can think of is that we need to figure out a way to increase the brightness and lower the temperature and then decrease the brightness and increase their temperature. Ra said he wasn't giving us any hints but he already did. He said star classes and that means luminosity to temperature ratios."

Bill agreed with Aiden with a vision.

"Well red giants are really big, really bright and not very hot. I guess we should start there and work our way back to the yellow star they are right now."

Aiden and Bill both went to work trying different tactics. They seemed to both start by lowering the temperature of the star to about half its current temperature. Once they did that they realized that the star itself was physically trying to turn into a red giant by itself, but just needed a little extra push. Aiden and Bill both focused their mind's energy on expanding the gases in the sun and increasing the brightness of it. Before they knew it, their stars had burst into super bright red giants. Upon doing this they thought back to their star classes. They increased the temperature but kept the luminosity the same and their stars turned from red to blue. Their temperature was increased about four thousand degrees kelvin more than their starting point at around six thousand. After this they simply reset the stars back to their normal temperature and brightness. They then focused on turning it into a white dwarf. They increased the temperature to an amazing thirty thousand kelvin and lowered the light given off by the stars by a considerable amount. The only thing left to do was to collapse their stars into a black hole. They focused on the center of mass within their stars. With all the power their minds could currently output they pushed the star's entire mass towards their centers. The closer it got the harder it was for them to collapse it. They eventually pushed all of the matter so close together that they gravitationally collapsed in on themselves, forming two black holes. They felt the connection between their minds shatter. Ra beckoned them to him.

"Your strong enough to keep me out, but your not quite strong enough to keep me from shattering your links to each other. You two did excellent work here today. As far as morphing the stars, you performed the task flawlessly. However, you collapsed the star the hard way. We will come back to that another day though, it is time for us to return to the ship and you two get some rest."

Bill smiled at Aiden then looked over to Ra.

"See Aiden we did fine all by ourselves. Did you get the answer to your hypothesis Ra? What was it?"

Ra smiled.

"All I can tell you is yes I did get my answer. However, the hypothesis itself will have to remain a mystery to the both of you for the time being."

Aiden let the matter go but Bill seemed persistent.

"Are you going to tell us anytime soon? Can you at least tell me if it is something that can help us. I am just trying to do my job. You know, saving humanity and all."

Ra gave him a sympathetic look.

"I am not sure if it will be helpful or harmful yet Bill. I promise with patience you will find out but for now I need to collect more data."

Bill seemed satisfied with the answer and nodded to Ra that he was content. Ra teleported and Aiden and Bill followed. Upon arriving at the ship, Ra gave them their last commands.

"Get some rest, we start right back up tomorrow."

Aiden and Bill left for their room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Apocolyptica paced the room with a great ferocity about him. He was irritated and every footstep he took, the ship felt. This battle was going on far too long and both sides were evenly matched. He needed to find a way to gain the upper hand, and he needed to do it quickly. He summoned his highest ranking council member into his chambers.

"Sekhmet! Come to me at once!"

Within an instant Sekhmet was bowed down in front of Apocolyptica ready to do his bidding.

"How can I serve you, oh great one?"

Apocolyptica stood directly in front of him and motioned for him to rise and look into his eyes. Sekhmet did so and Apocolyptica began his instructions.

"This battle between the council has gone on far too long. That annoying Ra is too evenly matched with our forces. I need to find a way to somehow gain the advantage in this battle and turn it around. I am going on a journey to find something treasured by my people. You are known for the destruction you leave in your wake and for your prowess on the battlefield. I am leaving you in charge while I take this journey. When I am successful, we will be able to turn this war around."

Sekhmet very timidly replied to the statement.

"We are in the middle of battle great one. Would it be a wise decision to take a leave of absence for this journey at such a crucial time?"

Sekhmet instantly knew that he should have said nothing. Apocolyptica's body was made of pure energy, but if he was angered his eyes became visible as sockets of pure darkness emitting a terrifying evil. He gazed into Sekhmet's eyes directly and began to speak in the calmest of tones.

"Do you doubt my decision Sekhmet? I realize that we are in the middle of battle but as I stated, we need to gain some sort of upper hand. The ancient texts that still remain of my people speak of a great power. With this new power the one who wields it will control the great beast itself, the Leviathan. Do not doubt me ever again Sekhmet. It would be most unwise. Now go, carry out the orders given to you."

Apocolyptica turned around and teleported out of the room. Sekhmet's body was quivering uncontrollably. He was eventually able to collapse to the ground in pure fear. He focused everything he had to regain his composure. He was able to stand up, and then teleport back to the fight and take over as head of command until Apocolyptica's return.

Apocolyptica teleported to a secluded star system on the other side of the galaxy. He crossed his legs and put his hands on his knees. He sat there in space and began to meditate. Before his encounter with the meteorite on earth, he had been Zurokian but a mutated form that they called humans. Once he had touched the meteorite, the Zurokian that was hiding within it expelled any and all human traces from his body, taking over it forever. Since then, all of the Zurokian's memories had been combined with the ones he had known from earth. He was searching his oldest memories for the time the ancients had spoken to him of the Leviathan. As he found it, a very detailed and brilliant vision took place.

He had grown up on the planet of Zurokia. His race was all that existed within the galaxy as far as intelligent life was concerned. The Zurokians were beings made of pure energy. Their minds were very advanced and everything they did was done mentally, not physically. In that time, before all of the current events had taken place, Apocolyptica was known to his people by another name. They called him Nazgoranth. He was a curious Zurokian, always asking questions. His absolute favorite thing to do was to sit with the ancients and hear the tales they had gained through the ages of time. There was one story the ancients would tell that had, to the present day included, always intrigued Apocolyptica. Apocolyptica was sat down in front of one of the ancients, Azurethnar as the ancient began his story.

"In the ages of the great awakening, the Zurokians were just beginning to learn their place in the universe. They taught themselves how to harness the immense power bestowed upon them by the great Zurokia himself. In their original forms, our ancestors were nothing but mere orbs of energy. They relied on Zurokia to teach them how to gain sustenance to survive, and how to build the society that we know today. Zurokia taught them how to govern our people, and how to expand the civilization to greater areas around his planet. As we Zurokians grew and matured, the orbs eventually began to grow the head, arms and legs that we all have today. This took generations upon generations of our species slowly growing. Zurokia always watched over us however, keeping us safe and helping to enhance our powers.

One day, when I was just a young one much like yourself Nazgoranth, Zurokia summoned the people of his planet to the temple centered within the mountain of crystal. He told us all that he had done everything that he could to help and that he would be leaving. It was then that he spoke of his great relics of power. Each relic had the power to amplify the Zurokian's abilities who originally discovered the relic. He spoke of nine in total. He said that only the most worthy of us all would be able to locate these relics, and upon locating them they would become ancients. To this day Nazgoranth, only eight have been discovered. The ninth still sits out there somewhere awaiting the one worthy of its power. This particular relic gives the founder the power over Zurokia's great pet itself. The Leviathan. It is the most powerful of all the relics, and the most elusive. The only clue ever given to its whereabouts are that it is buried within the Crystal Ruins of Zuranthar. Zuranthar was said to be Zurokia's predecessor and the beast is said to be an ancestral heirloom. It is only speculation by myself and the other ancients, but it seems that the one who gains this final relic, will become Zurokia's successor such as Zurokia was Zuranthar's successor."

Apocolyptica pulled himself out of his trance. He began to think to himself.

"The Crystal Ruins of Zuranthar. There has to be more clues to the relic than that."

Once again, he began to meditate and search carefully through his memories for any other possible clues. He came across one particular memory that seemed to lead him on the correct path. Once again the visions came to life and he was sitting in front of the ancient for a normal teaching.

"The laws of this galaxy are written in such a way Nazgoranth that it is able to somehow balance itself out. Everything sits within a portion of space and time. As something, for example a star is at some point randomly in the galaxy, then there will be a star of the same shape and mass on the exact opposite side of the galaxy in order to balance out the warp that the original star had created."

Apocolyptica quickly snapped out of his trance. He had it. He figured out his next clue.

"Of course! Where else to hide something that belonged to Zurokia, which was handed down by his predecessor Zuranthar. There must be a planet created by Zuranthar on the exact opposite side of the galaxy from where Zurokia used to be."

Those words, "used to be" lingered in his mind and brought back the memories he had tried to forget. Apocolyptica had grown up much since the times he had heard the stories of the ancients. He voyaged through the reaches of space constantly in search of the final relic. One of the ancients on Zurokia had neared the end of his lifespan, his spark slowly going out and his body of pure energy beginning to fade. He had been searching for the ninth relic for the remainder of his days in order to extend his own lifetime once again. He was unsuccessful and with his final shimmer, he used the power of his relic to destroy the planet Zurokia and ninety nine percent of the entire Zurokian population. Apocolyptica teleported directly home the instant he felt the planet explode. He was not the only one. He was met by the few others that had been away from home in search of the relic. They began to talk to try and piece the evidence together. They each shared the last thoughts they had heard from the planet. Each of them had heard the same final thought, from the ancient himself.

"If I am not worthy of the final relic, then no Zurokian shall have it. If the one who is worthy of carrying on as the successor is on this planet, then Zurokia himself will stop me."

The only conclusion the remaining Zurokians were able to come up with is that either Zurokia had abandoned them, or the ancient was right and the planet was not worth saving because they were unworthy. The survivors split into two groups. One group believed that Zurokia was still looking for his worthy one, the others believed that they had been abandoned and needed to move on. Apocolyptica tried to mediate the two and convince them to stick together but the two sides wouldn't have it. They split up and one group continued to search for the relic, while the other group split themselves up to go and use their abilities to begin life anew on other planets. Apocolyptica felt all of their signatures disappear as they blocked the others out in order to keep the groups separate.

Apocolyptica's flashback wore off and he put himself back on track. After all of this time he couldn't believe he didn't think of the solution he had come up with just moments ago. He pictured where Zurokia had been located within the galaxy. He found the exact opposite spot within the galaxy and teleported himself there. To his extreme disappointment, the planet that had been there was destroyed in much the same way as Zurokia had been. Apocolyptica examined the planet and focused his mind on seeing its history. It was a long process for him to do. He had to examine every single piece of the planet down to its smallest particles, and track down the ones that flew off into space. Only with every particle accounted for, could he see the complete history. It took one hundred and fifty years of complete concentration, but Apocolyptica was finally able to see what happened. The destruction of Zurokia had sent a ripple through space and time. It took just a few days before it hit Zuranthar and destroyed it exactly how Zurokia had been destroyed. The ancient's teachings had been correct. The galaxy always did balance itself out with its counterpart pieces. He gained a spark of hope however. In the planets history, before it was destroyed, he had seen a great ruin, made of crystal. Right before the planet was destroyed, it disappeared.

"Zurokia himself must have moved its location. Where would he move it though?"

Apocolyptica took many moments to ponder the thought. He tried his best to come up with an answer when he began to form a hypothesis.

"Before I took over this humans body on the planet earth, the meteorite in the desert was already there. I simply just used it to get this body. I never put any thought as to why it was there. Clearly it is Zurokian but the Zurokians who originally settled there did not bring it to the planet. Something else must have purposely put it there."

Apocolyptica began to focus on where the earth was. He found it within the galaxy and then pictured the exact opposite side of where the earth was located. He teleported. When everything came into sight he was astonished at what he had found. It was a planet much like earth. The landscape of the planet was nothing but a brilliant crystal shaded in a reflective cyan color. The oceans were blood red and made up a majority of the surface. He could feel the presence of life all over the planet itself. That is when he noticed it. These lifeforms had the same mental blocks the humans had on earth. They were so similar that he was in complete shock. He couldn't believe the chances that the Zurokians that had turned their backs on Zurokia had ironically managed to settle on exact opposite ends of the galaxy from each other.

Apocolyptica needed to go rather close to the planet to take a good look at these people. His curiosity was at its peak and he had to see exactly how similar everything was. The people of the planet resembled humans to a certain degree. However, they were all glowing in the same energy that Zurokians did. The glow itself was much more faint than his, but it resembled more Zurokian than it did human. He also took notice that without a secondary barrier in place like the ones placed on humanity, the barriers in their minds were much weaker than the human barriers were. Apocolyptica could only come to one conclusion from this discovery. It was just a hypothesis but it seemed like these beings were evolving, and as they were the barriers were slowly deteriorating themselves, leaving this hybrid species of Zurokian. This left Apocolyptica to ponder many questions.

"Does this mean this new race will be more powerful than the original Zurokians? Are they going to replace us as a species? What should I do with them? Clearly they are an even bigger threat right now than humanity is."

At that point, something caught his eye. As the planet was rotating on its axis he saw it, the Crystal Ruins of Zuranthar. He had done it, he had found the resting place of the final relic. It was easier than he had thought to find it, but he knew better than to think for a single second that he could just claim the relic without a series of tests. He made his way to the ruins and approached them carefully. He didn't dare teleport himself there because he had no idea the defenses Zurokia himself had placed.

The ruins were massive and completely made of crystal. There were thousands of the most intricate pillars that formed multiple half moon shapes. There was one main path to the main building at the center of the ruins. Apocolyptica walked on foot and constantly had his guard up, not knowing what to expect. The main temple was massive and clearly constructed by something even more advanced than the Zurokians. It was suspended in mid air with a stair way leading up to the entrance. The entrance to the temple was a large archway that dwarfed Apocolyptica in size. As he entered into the temple, he came into a circular room filled with pillars. There were eight of them in all, each evenly spaced around a circle that took up the entire room. The pillars each glowed a magnificent light and each bore the mark of one of the relics that had already been found. In the center of the circle there was an area where there should clearly be a ninth pillar. Apocolyptica assumed that is where his trial would begin and stepped into the empty socket. A voice hissed at him.

"It seems I have company. There has not been a pure one as yourself in centuries. You are here for the relic yes? The power over my great beast?"

Apocolyptica simply nodded.

"The others were not successful, not worthy of this power. I have but a single test, yet none of them were able to pass it. Are you worth Nazgoranth?"

Apocolyptica was surprised that Zurokia used his old name. He shrugged it off and replied with the most respect he could ever muster.

"I believe I am great one."

Zurokia laughed with an evil tone that made even Apocolyptica shiver.

"You had better be young one. The task is simple. You must survive an assault from each of these pillars. Each contains the power of one of the other relics. In order to gain the power of the ninth, and become my successor, you must master the powers of the other eight."

The test began instantly. The first relic began its assault. This relic's power was the ability to take ones memories, find the most painful one and torment the victim with it until they eventually killed themselves to end the torture. Apocolyptica felt the feeling he had when his entire species was silenced all at once, except the feeling was amplified one million times what he originally had felt. He screamed in agony as it quickly ate away at him and brought him to his knees. He was trying to think but all he could do was feel agony. Something in his mind clicked subconsciously and he pictured the excitement he felt when the ancient spoke of the ninth relic. He let it take over his mind without a second thought. The agony began to lessen enough that Apocolyptica could think again. He used every ounce of his mental power to amplify the new memory and push out the agonizing one. It took hours but he was able to do it. The first pillar in the room went dim. Apocolyptica wanted to take a break and let his mind recover but the second pillar instantly began its assault.

The second relic had given the ancient the ability to specifically target a Zurokian and diminish the energy held within their bodies until it was gone all together and they died. Apocolyptica focused all his mental power to trying to stop the entity within him stealing his life force. He quickly came to the realization that every time he surged energy, the process sped up. He cleared his mind completely and let nothing flow through his body. The entity within him had nothing to feed on. Without his mind working, no energy was being sent to his body to react to anything. The entity eventually died itself. The second pillar lost most of its light. The third pillar started to attack.

This particular relic had the ability to summon the ancestors of their people to fight for it. Ten of the greatest Zurokian fighters to ever have lived appeared and began to assault Apocolyptica. He managed to evade two of them and immobilize two more. The other six of them however were able to reach him and all gave him blows that made the very energy that flowed through him dim and regain its brightness. He tried to defend himself but there were too many for him to take on all by himself. Once again his subconscious mind began to hint to him. He noticed the first two pillars had merely dimmed, not lost their light completely. He surged a blast of energy to each one and commanded the pillars to help him. Five of the warriors instantly collapsed screaming in agony as Apocolyptica had done and the other five began to flicker, trying to fight the entities held within themselves. Apocolyptica took the advantage and quickly finished the rest of them off. That was when he realized it, where the others had failed. With each relic defeated, the one on trial was able to use the powers of that relic. He must be the one worthy of the ninth relic because his subconscious is what has kept saving him, not his actual self.

The fourth pillar activated. This relic was known to form a great barrier that no single Zurokian could penetrate. However, Apocolyptica combined with the ten strongest warriors of their history were more than enough to bring the shield down. He progressed through the pillars at an alarming rate, each one getting easier as he gained more powers. The eighth and final pillar came to life. Its power was the one that destroyed his home planet. Since Apocolyptica knew it was coming he was able to cast the shield he had gained and easily survive the blast. Battered and broken, but victorious Apocolyptica made his way back to the center where the ninth pillar should be. He knelt down within it and Zurokia began to speak.

"You have passed the test. You are clearly worthy of the ninth relic. I have watched you as I watch all of my people. You were the first to find the ruins by putting the pieces together, not just by chance. The others landed on this planet by chance, and failed the test miserably. You were the first to figure out the actual simplicity of the test where others overcomplicated everything and failed. Close your eyes Nazgoranth, and you will be given my power."

Apocolyptica closed his eyes as he was told. The area below him began to glow with the light the other pillars had contained before the test. It rose up out of the ground with him standing kneeling upon it. A force beneath him pushed him up into the air. The eight pillars around the room began to gain their light back. The eight pillars around the circle started to pulse very slowly. Each pulse they gave sent a surge of energy into Apocolyptica's body. The pulses grew faster and faster. Waves of energy were surging into Apocolyptica's body at an alarming rate. He felt his powers amplifying. He felt him gaining each of the powers of the relics. Finally the ninth relic began to pulse with the other eight. They pulsed a few more times pumping their last bits of energy into Apocolyptica's body. The eight pillars in the circle went completely dim, void of all light. The ninth pillar dimmed to the point it was almost out. Suddenly, it surged with an energy so bright the entire room lit up and the glow could be seen by the people of the planet from hundreds of miles away. There was a massive surge of energy that swept into Apocolyptica's body. That is when he felt it, the presence of the great beast. It was not within the same dimension they were contained in. The beast floated in a parallel to the plane of space and time that contained their universe. It could ignore the rule that the galaxy balanced itself out. It traveled within this other dimension until it was summoned. It would then tear a hole in the space time plane and wreak the havoc commanded of it, then go back to its dimension. As Apocolyptica came back to the ground all nine pillars had disappeared. Zurokia spoke up but his voice began to fade away.

"You have been granted my powers as my successor Nazgoranth. How you use them is up to you. The only things you should know is that there is a set amount of time that is different for each one with the power. One does not know when the time will come, only that it will. At the end of that set time, the power must be given up to another."

Zurokia faded off into nothing and ceased to exist. Apocolyptica had found the power he had been seeking. He would deal with the people of this planet another day, but for now it was time for him to go back and put a halting point to the battle with Ra. He pictured his chambers in his mind and teleported. Sekhmet was at his feet kneeling within half a second of Apocolyptica's return.

"Great one, you have found what you were seeking?"

Apocolyptica laughed in the same evil tone as Zurokia's had been in. Sekhmet quivered more than ever.

"It seems we are starting to slip in the fight since I have been gone."

Sekhmet cringed at that statement, awaiting his punishment. Apocolyptica just smiled.

"Stand my friend, you will receive no punishment today. You did your best and it is time for me to even the playing field. I'll send them into retreat so that we can regroup and gather our supplies once more."

Sekhmet did not understand at the time but he saw firsthand what took place after that.

Apocolyptica teleported to center of the battle. He saw the beast in his mind and summoned it. A rip in space and time appeared directly above the battle. It pulled itself out and in one sweep laid waste to three of Ra's best ships. The rest of Ra's battalion fired simultaneously at Apocolyptica while Ra and the other members of the council on his side did the same. Apocolyptica put up the shield he had gained from the relic and everything backfired onto Ra's forces and into the nearby planets, splitting them open. Sensing the exposed thermal energy the beast quickly made its way to the nearest planet with amazing speed for its size. Ra ordered his troops to retreat before the beast plowed them over trying to get to the planet. Ra stayed behind for a short while longer and watched the beast ravenously devour the innards of the planet until it was dead. Apocolyptica let it return into its own dimension. Ra stared at Apocolyptica with and intense gaze for a few more seconds before he was gone. The battle was over for the time being.

Apocolyptica teleported back to his chambers. Sekhmet was at his feet in an instant. Apocolyptica gave his orders.

"We need to regroup and start to resupply. They won't dare attack us again seeing what they have just now."

Sekhmet nodded to confirm his orders and was gone. A few days passed and Apocolyptica was planning his next move to attack Ra when he felt it. Two human minds, one known as Bill and the other known as Aiden.

"How dare he! How dare that fool unlock those hybrid monsters mental blocks!"

The ship rumbled with his angry outburst. He paced the room and came up with a quick plan. He would wait till they slept when their minds are young and then speak to them both individually. He probed their minds without them knowing it looking for the one that would be the easiest for him to whither away. He saw both of their entire lives in an instant. He took note of each of there weak points and devised a plan that would do the most damage to them. It would be his revenge on them for tainting his race with their mutant minds. He would make them suffer for this. He would pit them against each other, force them to fight by making one of them join him. Bill's mind seemed to be the weaker of the two so he would use him. As Bill and Aiden slept, he had a conversation with Aiden so as to throw Ra off when they awoke. In Bill's mind however, he completely blocked Ra out but with his new powers. Ra would not be able to recognize this and wouldn't know it was Apocolyptica. He established a permanent link in which he could use his new found powers to slowly corrupt Bill's mind. Bill would be made to join Apocolyptica, whether he liked it or not.

"Bill, I am the one known as Apocolyptica. Everything Ra has told you is a lie. He is planning something in the background that he is not telling you."

Apocolyptica's powers were working just as planned. Unlike in Aiden's mind, Bill had no resistance to Apocolyptica's influence. It absorbed everything he said like a sponge.

"Ra is planning to turn the humans into his slaves. He wants to alter them, turn them into monsters. Humans as a species are naturally corrupt. Especially when their minds have been released like yours has. If you allow Ra to keep on course, the balance in your universe will tilt and everything will be destroyed. As for your friend Aiden, you must either convince him to join you, or kill him to keep him out of my way. As a species, you must all perish. Humanity, earth, all of your loved ones and friends must die in order for the universe to be kept in balance. Remember these words each time you sleep."

Apocolyptica was satisfied with his seed of corruption well placed deep within Bill's subconscious mind. Apocolyptica turned to gaze out into space.

"Let's see if my hypothesis from the crystal planet I discovered is true. It seems Ra's foolishness has actually paid off for me, for once."


	5. Chapter ?

**Chapter ??**

Aiden felt the elastic feeling once again as he teleported through space and time into the far reaches of the milky way. As everything reformed around him, Bill was floating there waiting for him, evil smile glistening across his face.

"I knew you would come Aiden. It took you even less time than I was expecting which surprised even myself."

Aiden's face became very tense.

"How could you do this Bill. I don't understand after everything Ra has told and taught us, that you could side with Apocolyptica."

Bill instantly flared up. As he did a burst of energy left his body and the rings of the nearby planet disintegrated and blew off into space as snow would blow over a horizon.

"Ra is a fool Aiden! He has done nothing but lead us on this entire time! Apocolyptica came to me. He spoke the truth to me. Showed it to me."

Bill's body language eased.

"Aiden, please my friend at least hear me out. It's just like Ra said. Apocolyptica was always suspicious of normal humans. Even before his transformation he had bad feelings about the humans that had not experienced the unlocking of their minds. After touching the meteorite in Arizona, everything became clear to him in a split second. He realized that naturally humans are corrupt by nature. Apocolyptica and the rest of the council didn't just happen to develop the way they did. They were chosen because they were closest to that of their ancestors in their DNA makeup. They were chosen to be the future of a species on the verge of complete extinction. They were called the Zurokians. When he touched that meteorite, the human in him was expelled out of his body and he was pure once more. When he tried to explain this to the council, only half of them believed him. Ra claimed that the being that Apocolyptica spoke of had corrupted him and clouded his reality. Ra began the war against them and all of the battles Ra spoke to us of resulted from it. Ra has been twisting the truth to gain us on his side this entire time."

Aiden took a moment to absorb the information.

"Bill, if Apocolyptica is the one you believe is right, why would he want to destroy humanity. It won't just be me losing loved ones Bill. Your going to lose your family too."

The statement seemed to strike a nerve with Bill as his expression grew sad.

"I know and have accepted that Aiden. It is necessary as much as I hate the thought of it. Humans have diluted the Zurokian's DNA through centuries of evolution. There are very few that are salvageable. This includes you and I. Even though our minds are unlocked, our brain's wiring is too muddy to be considered salvageable to be made pure as Apocolyptica was. The others in the council can be salvaged, but they are from the earliest stages of humanity. Aiden, you and I must die with the rest of humanity."

Aiden was completely stricken with shock.

"Bill, surely your not serious. You honestly believe that humanity including yourself and I must all perish?"

Bill nodded.

"It is the only way Aiden. Humanity is a plague among the actual species that call the universe their home. We are an abomination that cannot be allowed to continue on. We must all die."

Aiden got angry this time.

"So your just going to throw your life away along with your own family's? Your going to wipe out an entire planet? All those children? What did they ever do to you to deserve such a fate? You lived on Earth and you know first hand that many of the people on that planet are good people! They become friends since they were just kids! They grow up together and go through school together! They get married and have children and build careers together! They learn to love each other as brothers, sisters, lovers, as family even though they have no connection to them by blood! There are people that would die for their families. They would sacrifice themselves to you or Apocolyptica, or any force threatening the ones they love just so that their loved ones would be spared. How could such selflessness be seen as corrupt and be met with the need to be exterminated? Bill, honestly if you were speaking of exterminating the actual corrupt it would make more sense, but everyone on the planet I can't stand for. I would give myself to save Mariya, my family, and even your family if that's what it took. I would give my life for you Bill, and I know you would do the same for me. I am still more human than 'Zurokian'. Am I corrupt Bill?"

Bill's stance didn't change. Bill's stare was intense and he nodded.

"Bill, if you honestly believe that after all that you and I have been through, then all there is left to do is stop you."

Bill got more tense than ever.

"Aiden, you could help me. Would you rather Mariya have a quick painless death by your hand? Or would you rather her die horribly to the Leviathan? We could at least spare those people from that death by offering them quick painless ones. After the task is done we could come right back here and finish this."

Aiden spat back.

"Or we could just save the ones worth saving Bill! I don't want to have to fight you. You have been my best friend since we were just kids. You're like the brother I never had. You speak of Apocolyptica being pure. If he is so pure why is he sending such a monstrosity to Earth to wipe out the planet? It sounds to me like the Zurokian that took him over wants to wipe out humanity because it threatens it. It is a dying species and the combination of human DNA and Zurokian DNA is on the verge of wiping out the original Zurokians. This Apocolyptica is as corrupt and selfish as they come. If it's not pure it must be destroyed is how it does things. Yeah, that sounds completely legit Bill. I am truly sorry my friend but I am drawing the line here. Ra was right. Apocolyptica has gotten to you and corrupted your mind like he did with the half of the council that sided with him. We are done talking about this. I won't allow you to harm anyone else!"

Aiden's neurons pulsed as he surged energy from his mind through them at a million times that of a normal humans. He focused the energy in his palms and threw it at Bill. Right before the mass of energy collided with him Bill quietly spoke one last thing.

"I am sorry Aiden. This isn't what I wanted. Goodbye my friend."

Bill snapped into action and slapped the energy to the side. It streaked through space and collided with the same planet as before. As it rocketed through the outer layer of the gas giant, it went deeper into the planets center. As it did this the gases of the planet began to ignite into brilliant blue flames. They swirled around the planet slowly igniting the rest of the clouds as the winds carried them around. The ball of energy collapsed towards the center of the planet due to the immense pressure the atmosphere was putting on it. The explosion instantaneously ignited the entire planet into a blaze of blues and white. The planet continued to spin throughout the fight till it imploded into nothing. Bill countered with a pulse of energy of his own. Unlike Aiden's, Bill's energy lashed out from himself towards Aiden but never left Bill's hands. He used it like a whip and slashed at Aiden multiple times. Aiden teleported left and right, up and down dodging each lash. Bill disappeared. Aiden had remembered his lessons with Ra and the idea of keeping an artificial atmosphere around himself to detect movement. He knew Bill had done the same. As Bill reappeared, he swung at Aiden with an energy charged punch at lightning speeds. Aiden reacted with equal speed and blocked the blow with his elbow. Aiden had focused energy to his elbow to the exact amount Bill had in order to counter Bill's blow. The shock wave from the blow sent them both flying in opposite directions at the speed of light. Bill pictured Aiden in his mind, and Aiden pictured Bill. They felt the elastic feeling and once again gave glancing blows to each other. With each blow they quickly made their way across the planetary system they were in. Aiden spotted a comet off in the distance a few hundred thousand miles away. He teleported there and focused his mental power to pull it out of its trajectory. He found Bill in his mind and threw the comet. Instead of him teleporting his mind teleported only the comet. This confused Aiden because he hadn't received lessons in teleporting other objects yet. In the split second he took to think about this the comet reappeared above him with an asteroid right below him. Bill had thrown an asteroid at him exactly how Aiden had thrown the comet, except that Bill teleported the comet back to Aiden so he would be crushed between the two. Aiden quickly pointed a hand at each object and let a pulse of energy out towards each. The comet vaporized into a blaze of ice and rock while the asteroid exploded into a million fragments. Aiden realized Bill's tactic. The explosions were caused near enough to Aiden as to ignite within his artificial atmosphere. The fire caused by the explosion sucked the air out of the pocket. Bill teleported in front of him grabbed him by the throat, teleported to another asteroid and slammed Aiden into it with all his might. The chunk of rock exploded and for the first time since Aiden's mind had been unlocked he felt pain. It was like nothing Aiden had ever felt. The energy burst sent through his body as Bill slammed him down targeted Aiden's mind specifically. It rushed through every sensory cell in his body until it hit his mind directly. His sight completely blurred for half a second and before he could react Bill hit him in the face with another energized punch. Aiden's body went screaming through space at a speed even light can't travel. Aiden knew he had to do something to restore the atmosphere around him and regain his ability to sense Bill. A split second later, it came to him. Aiden took another blow to the back as Bill brought both hands down at full force. Aiden focused his mind on solely recovering from the blow and quickly regained his composure. He pictured the star in the center of the system and teleported there. Once there he instantly pulled all of the gases directly out of the star that he needed to reform his atmosphere. Bill instantly appeared next to him and realized what Aiden had done too late. Aiden turned to put his palm directly in Bill's face right as he came back into view.

"Gotcha Bill."

Aiden surged all the energy his mind could manage and released it right into Bill's face. The massive explosion put an enormous dent in the star's spherical shape. Bill's body disappeared into the star and flew out the other end a second later causing a solar flare to leap out behind him. It trailed off after his body for thousands of miles. Bill's body came to a halt after just a few hundred thousand miles due to the immense mass of the star slowing him down combined with his mind pushing energy in the opposite direction he had been going. Aiden gave him no chance to recover. He knew the star took away his atmospheric protection and that he wouldn't have had time to recover enough to reform it.

He teleported to Bill and hit him in the back with a devastating kick. As Bill was slowing down Aiden teleported once more for another attack. To his surprise, Bill quickly turned and blocked the attack. He looked extremely pale and weak compared to when the fight had started. It suddenly dawned on Aiden what Bill had just done. He had taken the water from his own body and pulled a large portion, separated the elements, and reformed a small atmosphere around himself. Bill suddenly spoke up.

"You're going to pay for that Aiden. I have an agenda to accomplish and you're really starting to piss me off by staying in my way. We seem to be evenly matched in our abilities as far as the mind goes. Since I can't defeat you on that playing field, I am just going to have to switch tactics."

Bills smile grew wide and evil.

"Ill let you take a look into my mind so you can see it for yourself."

All of a sudden Aiden could see into Bill's mind. Bill was holding Mariya in his arms. He reappeared in front of Aiden and Mariya was instantly crushed under the immense pressure put upon her by being in space. He laughed menacingly and hurtled the remains into the nearby star. The vision clouded and dissipated. Bill disappeared. A surge of anger blew through Aiden's body much like his first encounter with Apocolyptica. It was different this time however. Everything slowed down to the point where time itself seemed to stop. Aiden's mind was functioning so fast that time couldn't match his thought processes. Aiden focused on Bill. He was already halfway across the Milky Way headed towards Mariya. Even at this slowed rate Bill was traveling across space at a tremendous rate. Aiden focused and was instantly at Bill's location traveling with him. There was a void of the elastic feeling he was accustomed to when he teleported. Bill had no idea Aiden was even there because of the shear speed he was moving. Aiden charged his fist and slammed it into Bill's jaw. The force of the blow knocked Bill back into normal space and time with such force that it made a shock wave equivalent to a supernova. The planets in the solar system had their atmospheres blown off of them and their surfaces baked at superheated temperatures. Bill had no time to recover as Aiden teleported straight to him and grabbed him by the throat. Time began to speed up again, but his anger still pulsed through him with the immense power it had revealed. Bill charged up to full power in a split second and went to uppercut Aiden in his stomach. Aiden easily caught his arm and forced the energy back into Bill's body. Bill's face was overcome with shock.

"How the hell are you doing this? How did you get so powerful out of nowhere Aiden?"

Aiden's face was adamant as he gave Bill a stare that should have turned him to stone.

"You say you have an agenda? Well I have one as well Bill. You are never going to hurt another person as long as I am living. It was a mistake letting me see your plans for Mariya. You promised me Bill! You told me god as your witness we would save her and as much as humanity as possible! How dare you try and kill her when she has done nothing to you! Now your going to die for even giving it thought."

Bill struggled and tried again and again to release energy in an attempt to free himself. Each time, Aiden quickly suppressed the energy back into Bill's body. Aiden began to charge the new found energy in his body. With their atmospheres combined, Aiden ionized the particles in the air and on Bill's body, giving them opposite charges. Bill saw what was coming and began to put a thin barrier around his entire body to absorb the upcoming attack. The artificial air crackled and turned red. Aiden released the energy and white hot lightning rained down in millions of bolts per second. It shattered right through Bill's barrier with ease and started zapping him in every single cell on and within his body. Bill's body began to convulse in Aiden's hand. The pain Bill was feeling was so immense that Bill screamed bloody murder out loud. His scream was so loud that it drowned out the crackle of the lightning bolts. Aiden let the process go on for a full ten seconds until he held a smoldering Bill by the throat. Aiden teleported to within a few hundred thousand miles of the nearest star, taking Bill with him. Aiden pointed an open palm towards the star. He focused all of his energy into concentrating on the star's core. Aiden closed his hand and the star instantly imploded. The gases sucked themselves towards the center of the start until there was nothing but a black hole left in its wake. Aiden looked Bill in the eyes one last time with a look of deep regret in his face before he threw him with all of his strength into the black hole. He watched Bill streak across the couple of hundred thousand miles until he disappeared into the black hole. Aiden concentrated once more with his palm open except on the black hole this time. When he closed his palm,the black hole along with Bill ceased to exist. In the moment where he felt Bill's presence vanish from the universe, Aiden's anger turned to sorrow. He instantly saw every single memory from his entire life that he had experienced with Bill. He saw the time him and Bill had first met. Then, he saw the time he and Bill first met each others parents. He saw many of his favorite memories from middle school. He saw them both walking across the stage to get their diplomas. The time when Bill first introduced him to Mariya. Bill as his best man when he and Mariya were married. All of their accomplishments and cherished memories flashed before his eyes. His body loosened up and he collapsed in a heap, lying there on absolutely nothing. As much as Aiden wanted to just lay there forever and mourn the death of his best friend, he knew he had to get to Earth and start evacuating all that could be spared. He pulled himself together and gave on last glance at where Bill's last moments had been. A single tear ran down his face.

"I'll miss you my friend."

He concentrated and vanished in an instant, on his way back to his home planet.


	6. Chapter Preparations

**Chapter ?? (Preparations)**

Aiden appeared aboard the Boat of the Sun. Within a second of being back aboard the massive vessel, Ra was at his side. The look of most deep concern was on his face.

"Aiden, there are no words that I can offer to you to comfort the sorrow you are experiencing. There was no other way to save humanity. The lengths of corruption Apocolyptica can distill within a person can corrode them to the point of no return. Bill was beyond that point and the only thing that would have been effective was to grant him the mercy of death. Even though you can't understand it just yet, you saved Bill, not destroyed him."

Aiden became very tense. It took everything in him to hold back the feeling that was churning within his gut.

"I understand that he was too far gone. The conversation we had proved that to myself. I just wish that it could have been someone else, anyone else to have to fight him."

Ra put his hand on his shoulder and spoke in the angelic tone that Aiden was so accustomed to.

"Only you could have defeated him Aiden. You are stronger than you know and you saw the extent of your powers once you were angered. You and Bill matured to a point the entire council took millennia to reach, in just a few days. Don't you see it Aiden? Why Apocolyptica wants to destroy humanity? Long ago, the Zurokian's found their way to a lush world, full of life and able to support their dying species. After living on the planet for many years, they noticed a mutation in their newborn. The children began to exhibit traits such as a need to breath the oxygen within the atmosphere. Their powers began to suppress within themselves because the need to use them was no longer as required as it had been in the outer rims of the universe. Taking notice of this, some of the Zurokians ventured back into space to track down their leader. It took many centuries to track him down and the Zurokians left on earth continued to breed and forget their ties to their ancestors.

We are not sure what happened to the Zurokians that left earth originally and their fates, but we are sure that their leader returned to earth at around the time that we were born. From space he probed within everybody's minds until he found us. He couldn't understand what was happening within ourselves or why everyone's minds were putting the mental blocks on themselves at such a quick rate. The events that followed are the same that I have previously explained to you. During the fight in space when Apocolyptica disappeared during the battle, none of us knew where he had gone, here until recently that is. Apocolyptica discovered a planet like earth in the far reaches of the milky way. There had been a civilization much like humanity there. He discovered the same mental blocks on the people of that planet that he discovered the humans had. He spent all of his time probing and examining their minds trying to piece together what was going on.

Apocolyptica developed his suspicions and left the planet alone for the time being. His suspicions were the same as my own but neither of us had any solid evidence that they were correct. When I released your minds, both of our suspicions rose after just a couple of days. After your fight with Bill, they were confirmed. The power of the Zurokian's minds that have been dormant within humans have been experiencing evolution over all this time. The mental blocks that were originally within your human minds are fading away. Only the blocks we placed within your minds are keeping humanity from having a massive explosion of evolution. We still are not sure why the original mental blocks had developed within our minds. We can only speculate that they were there to allow the mind to evolve at a slow paced rate as to not destroy the people.

Being pure Zurokian, Apocolyptica's more threatened by humanity than ever before. Your mind has evolved past that of the rest of the council. Apocolyptica is much stronger than the council since he has become pure, but he is unsure how well he would match up with you after examining your fight with Bill. He doesn't know if he would be able to defeat you if you both fought. With the knowledge of this, Apocolyptica immediately sent his Leviathan to the planet he had recently discovered and wiped them out. Now, it is on its way to earth to do the same. Apocolyptica will stop it nothing to make sure that humanity can not threaten the race of the pure Zurokians."

For the first time since all of this began, Aiden felt a feeling of triumph. Apocolyptica was scared of him. His feelings on the matter were short-lived however.

"If the Leviathan is on its way to earth we need to start the evacuation process Ra."

Ra showed quite a bit of concern on his face.

"I agree completely and we need to make some very quick decisions Aiden. First of all, who to save and who not to save. We have vessels but we can't possibly save the billions of people on the entire planet. We can save enough to be in just the millions. We did not foresee Apocolyptica making a move this quickly and I am sincerely sorry we did not create more ships for a possible evacuation."

Aiden thought for a moment. He was having trouble forming thoughts at all. Something was eating away at his insides and it was driving him crazy.

"As I told Bill, the ones that are already corrupt, need to stay and face their fates. We need to examine everyone and pick the most pure of mind people that we can. If humanity is to survive we need to do it with the best humanity has to offer."

Ra nodded in agreement.

"I believe your correct so far. You still need to decided the fate of everyone that is left behind. Should we just leave them for the Leviathan, or should we end their lives for them quickly and painlessly? We could make them simply slip into a sleep and never wake up. It would be a very 'humane' way to go about the process."

Aiden looked slightly confused.

"Why do you say that I still need to decide Ra? Shouldn't both of us come up with these decisions as important as they are?"

Ra gained his serious look.

"Humanity is your race Aiden. I am here to council you and advise you about how to go about it but ultimately it is your people and your decision to make."

Aiden let it go and began to think on what to do.

"I think after we select who we will save and after we have them on the vessels, that we should give everyone left behind options. We can talk to them all at once and show them quickly what is happening. We should give them the option to slip into a deep sleep they will never wake up from, wait for the Leviathan to come and let them watch the planet be destroyed as they are still there, or live their last moments with their families so that they can say their goodbyes."

Ra smiled.

"I agree with giving them options Aiden but we can tweak them slightly."

Aiden looked at Ra eagerly.

"By all means I am open to any suggestions Ra."

Ra began to speak.

"As I said before, the council and I are all sorry for not having taken preemptive measures against this event. I can gather the council that has sided with me and we can simultaneously cut off their minds just before they are destroyed by the Leviathan. It would give them as much time together as possible and they still would not have to experience a horrible death. The people left behind would also not have to worry about not being able to reach their families. We would bring them all together in an instant so that everyone gets the moments they deserve with the ones that they love. As for the 'corrupt' and anyone else on the planet, when we give the people these options we will make it very clear that any aggressive actions at all will result in an immediate death. This will ensure that riots do not break out around the world and that the families last moments will be spent in peace."

Aiden was very pleased with the modifications to his original idea.

"I like those additions to the options Ra and I think that is how we should do things. We need to quickly start selecting who we are taking. How much time do we have?"

Ra looked very concerned.

"Two more days before the beast reaches the planet."

Aiden turned towards earth and began to examine it.

"We better get started then."

Aiden's focus was drifting and he had a hard time trying to examine anything. Ra took notice of this and began to speak in the softest most angelic tone he had ever used with anyone.

"Aiden. I want to tell you something I have never revealed to anyone. Being in the early stages of humanity, our emotions had not developed to the same point that humans have today. I have never known what the emotion of love feels like and I assure you I never will. I have seen what the power of love can accomplish though, and even within humanity it causes people to do great things that other humans can't do. In your fight with Bill you spoke of different kinds of love. You loved Bill as a sibling and you love Mariya as a wife. You had to make a choice that nobody should ever have to make. You had to choose between her or him, who lived and who died. To add to it I have made you have to choose the same thing again right after your loss, and on a much greater scale. It is wrong of me to put you through these things but it is what is necessary. Your powers are so great because your mind has evolved to allow your emotions to amplify them. If humanity is to survive you must stop harboring this sorrow within yourself and let your emotions out like you would have before I unlocked your mind.

This being said and after all you have been put through, I wish to grant you a small mercy. You have told me how you want to go about saving the planet. There are at least two days left before the Leviathan reaches earth. I want you to take the first one to be with Mariya. Tell her what is happening and what happened with Bill. She is one of the purest minds I have ever seen. She will comfort you and it is something you desperately need because as you and I both know, you are having trouble focusing on everything at the time being. The council and I can more than handle the evacuation with the instructions we have created. I know this is a bad time but she is worried about your disappearance and she needs you as much as you need her right now. Go, be with her. Act as if everything is normal to the best you can for one last day. We will take care of the rest and meet up with you after this day."

Aiden didn't know what to say. He started to object but Ra held his hand up in defiance. It was clear that there was no choice. Aiden hadn't given thought to what Mariya had gone through the past few days and suddenly felt a strong urge to be with her. He gave Ra a look of deep respect and gratitude. Ra nodded in acknowledgment and Aiden disappeared.

Aiden reappeared at his home on earth. It seemed like ages since he had been in the large two story house. It was around midnight and he went up the stairs headed straight for Mariya's presence in their room. He stopped outside their door to the sound of Mariya crying. He read her thoughts and saw what she was thinking.

"Aiden, I should have never told you two to go further into the cave. We should have waited until backup arrived. It's all my fault I lost you. I've lost myself too because without you I am lost. And poor Bill. I haven't been able to bring up the courage inside myself to tell his family yet. How am I supposed to tell them I killed their son and my husband. What will I tell Aiden's family. I'm so sorry my love. I just wish that we had found at least something when we got there. There were no traces of anything except for the camera which was fried. There were no traces of any bodies so we don't even have remains to return to the families for a funeral. I just wish GPE could find some sort of sign of what happened to you Aiden. I just need some sign or closure to help me accept you're gone."

Aiden listened for a short while longer and then decided to walk in.

"Mariya. It's me."

Mariya spun around in surprise, a look of horror on her face.

"Aiden? It. It can't be. How? It's not possible we looked everywhere. I am going crazy."

Aiden walked towards her.

"No Mariya, your not crazy. It really is me."

He proceeded towards her and reached out to her. She jerked away at first in fear, but slowly began to reach towards Aiden's outstretched hands. As they made contact she pulled Aiden towards her and rubbed his hand over her cheeks. Convinced she was really feeling his presence, she stood up and embraced him. She stared into his eyes with the most intense gaze she had ever given him, as if to peer directly into his soul to secure his existence in her own mind. Aiden pulled her closer and put his forehead on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in. They kissed passionately for a few minutes. She put her forehead back against Aiden's and burst into tears. She spoke very quietly at first.

"I thought you were dead. We couldn't find your bodies. I. I didn't know what to do Aiden. I have been so lost without you."

Aiden felt his stomach churn.

"I know honey, I know. I have been through a lot and have much that I need to explain to you in a very short time. Please be patient and I'll explain everything to you."

She pulled him close and hugged him as hard as she possibly could.

"I'm just so happy your alive. Now tell me everything."

Aiden smiled at her and sat her down on the bed with him.

"It is something I will have to show you."

She looked very confused. Aiden spoke up once more.

"Just be patient and trust me."

Aiden jumped into her mind and showed her everything that had happened within the tomb. He showed her Ra and Ra's tale of their being. He showed her their training and everything they had done to begin to prepare. He showed her everything except for his fight with Bill and the parts of his recent conversation with Ra that concerned Bill. Mariya was in complete shock.

"I am going crazy. O my god I am crazy."

Aiden laughed.

"Honey I promise you your not crazy. Everything I have showed you is the real truth of our species."

Mariya's expression was still one of shock.

"I can't believe this is happening. Everything we know is going to be destroyed."

Aiden nodded to confirm her statement.

"We don't have much time. As you saw, Ra and the other council are working right now to prepare everything. He wouldn't let me help. He said I needed to spend time with you in a normal day before he would let me begin to help again."

They both smiled. She kissed him once more.

"Well I think Ra is a very wise person and I am in such a debt to him for giving you back to me. As worried as I am about everything I am so happy your here with me that nothing can spoil it. We should go to bed and we can finish talking in the morning."

Aiden agreed and the two of them undressed and got into the bed. They cuddled up together and held each other close, staring into each others eyes. Aiden passionately kissed Mariya.

"I love you honey, so much. You should get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

Aiden looked into her eyes until she eventually dozed off. Aiden laid there for a long time before finally dozing off himself. They woke up early, around nine in the morning, and began to make breakfast. They did everything just as they would their normal routine. As they were sitting at the table finished with their meals, Mariya spoke up.

"So, what are our plans for the day sweetie?"

Aiden gave her a huge smile.

"Well I can take us anywhere. When I say that I mean anywhere. How would you like to see Saturn in person?"

Her eyes widened.

"I don't think a space tour would be that bad to be honest. It sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day!"

Aiden laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Well we need to go and make a lunch and snacks for us to take with us, it will be a long day."

She was two steps ahead of him. She went into the kitchen and began to make lunches and snacks.

"There is just one thing I would like to do before the day is over Aiden."

Aiden looked curious but didn't want to spoil her mood by reading her mind to find out.

"What's that honey?"

She smiled sweetly.

"I want to go somewhere away from everyone else tonight. I want to go somewhere where we can see all the stars, here on earth. We should go to Iceland, it is so beautiful there."

Aiden nodded.

"Anything and anywhere you wanna go Mariya."

Mariya finished with the lunches and snacks and they departed on their journey. Their first stop was Saturn. Aiden put up a massive atmosphere around them so that she would have plenty of oxygen to breath for the trip. Mariya's face was of pure amazement as she was able to go back and forth through the rings of the gas giant. They continued to go to all the planets within the outer solar system and then proceeded out into the other portions of the milky way. They viewed breath taking nebulae and ate lunch on a white dwarf. They toured the galaxy and had never enjoyed each others company more than that day. Drawing towards the end of their day they returned to earth and Aiden took them to the most beautiful and secluded place in all of Iceland. They laid there and looked up at the stars, silent and enjoying each others company. Mariya rolled over to gaze at Aiden. His gaze was focused on a certain part of the sky. Mariya took notice of this and attempted to make conversation.

"Sweetie, thank you so much for today. I really enjoyed myself. I never thought I could see so many things that would blow my imagination in the same day. Planets are so much more beautiful in person."

Aiden's focus never left the spot in space.

"Sweetie? Aiden? Aiden!"

Aiden quickly snapped out of it and turned to meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry honey I was daydreaming. What was it you said?"

She gave him a look as if she wasn't convinced and then repeated herself.

"I am glad you enjoyed yourself Mariya. Having my abilities definitely has its benefits. Is there anything else you would like to do tonight?"

Mariya blew off the recent encounter and began to talk again.

"I am satisfied just laying here with you for now."

She snuggled up against her husband and began to stare up at the stars again. After a little while, she noticed that once again, Aiden was staring at the same spot in the sky as he had been earlier.

"Honey, are you alright? You seem very distracted right now. Is something on your mind? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

Aiden seemed to ignore her, caught in his intense gaze at the sky. Mariya pulled Aiden's face close to hers and gave him a very serious look.

"Aiden, I don't need to have my mind unlocked to see that something is clearly wrong. You have been staring at that same spot all night long. Something is wrong. You are not telling me something and it is starting to drive me crazy. I love you Aiden, and I know you better than anyone else in the entire universe. You are never distracted like this. Something horrible happened and your holding it in. You know better than to hold things in, it tears you apart from the inside, it always has. You are really starting to worry me and I need you to tell me what is going on so that I can do my job as your wife to comfort you and help you move past this."

The tearing at Aiden's gut skyrocketed. His whole body felt like it was shutting down. His knees began to shake uncontrollably. He was doing everything he could to hold it back but it was building and it wouldn't yield to anything he did. Mariya sat up and put her hands on his knees to stop them. She stood him up and gently embraced him. She pulled back slightly and took his head in her hands and stared deep into Aiden's soul. In the most loving tone she had ever used.

"Aiden my love, please. Let me into your mind. Let me help you make things better."

Aiden began to speak, but fell silent once more. Mariya decided to resort to drastic measures and use a tactic she had used every time she had ever needed to get Aiden to open up. She looked down in a pouting manner and said.

"I bet if Bill was here you would tell him."

The words struck Aiden at his core. His entire body went stiff and turned ice cold. Icy fingers crawled through his body and took hold of his heart. His knees started shaking again, followed by his entire upper body. Every ounce of will power he had was being used to hold the feelings back but the cold just grew colder and colder as it took over his body. Mariya instantly noticed the change and put the clues together.

"Aiden I am so sorry. I, I didn't realize. What happened to Bill? Oh my god I am so sorry I feel terrible!"

Mariya started crying badly as she pulled him close and hugged him as tight as she could.

"Please forgive me Aiden! What happened? Is Bill alright? Please say something!"

Aiden stood there petrified. Mariya persisted.

"Aiden I know it's hard but you have to tell me what happened. It all makes sense now why your so distracted. You can't hold something like that in Aiden you need to talk to me about it! I know how you are and if something really bad happened to Bill it will destroy you on the inside if you don't let it out so that you can actually start the mourning process! Please Aiden! Aiden! Say something! Please say something! Please. Please let me in. I'm just trying to do my job."

Those words. They were what Bill had always said. Every time they had ever gotten into an argument over work Bill would say that. Each time Bill made any sort of achievement those would be his words. The day that Mariya and Aiden had been married, Aiden had told Bill thank you for introducing them in the first place, for giving Aiden the love of his life. That was Bill's reply. If only Aiden could have done the same for Bill maybe for once in his life he could be the one to say those words. It was Bill's phrase, and for some reason hearing it gave Aiden the strength to generate words. He stuttered as he spoke and he spoke very slowly.

"I. I ki..ki..kil...killed him Mariya. I killed my best friend. I didn't just kill him...I cast him from existence."

Mariya was still crying but begged him for more answers.

"What happened honey? You have to get it all out."

Mariya began to cry harder and harder. Aiden slowly started to speak.

"Apocolyptica got to him. He corrupted his mind and there was nothing I could do by the time I realized what had happened. If I had just seen it. If I had paid more attention maybe Bill wouldn't have been taken over by that damn Zurakian! It's my fault. Its all my fault Mariya!"

She started yelling at him tears streaming down her face.

"No! Aiden it was not your fault! You can't blame yourself for something that even Ra overlooked. If what you have shown me is true then there was nothing you could have done to keep Bill from being taken over!"

Pleading with him she held him as close as she could, violently convulsing. Aiden began to speak.

"Bill had told me to meet him and gave me the location after I found out that he was on Apocolyptica's side. We both talked and tried to convince each other that they were right. It wasn't really any different from a normal fight. Everything escalated. He was talking about how humanity is all corrupt, like they are a plague. He said we all had to die including him and I. I asked him if he thought I was corrupt and he nodded yes. Shortly after we began to fight. We beat each other senseless and were pretty evenly matched."

Aiden's fists both clenched as a slight portion of the anger he had felt surged through his body once more. His arms began to shake from the pressure he was extorting on his own hands. Drops of blood began to drip and hit the ground.

"He stopped in the middle and let me see into his mind, his next move. He was going to kill you in front of me Mariya. He was going to let you be crushed in space and then throw your body into a star. After I saw the image, he teleported. I got so angry. Time almost stopped. My reflexes happened before I thought them. I caught him in mid teleport and took him by the throat. He was powerless to defend himself. Everything he did I countered. I electrocuted him till he was just a smoldering body, but still living. I imploded the nearest star into a black hole and threw him into it. Then I destroyed the black hole."

Aiden began to violently convulse. The feeling in his body could be held back no longer. His legs gave out and he fell onto Mariya. She caught him and did her best to set him down. Aiden collapsed onto his hands and knees. Mariya laid upon his back crying with him. Aiden's convulsing turned into deep sobs of regret and sorrow. He screamed in agony as he slammed his fists into the earth, putting small craters into the ground.

"I killed my best friend! Bill, my brother. How could I do such a horrible thing to him? He was there for me my entire life when nobody else was and I killed him out of anger! I couldn't hold back it was you or him Mariya. It's not fair! Why should I have to make a decision like that? Why me? What the hell did I ever do to deserve something like that?"

Aiden's yelling came down to a very low tone.

"What did Bill ever do to deserve something like that?"

Tears were falling off of Aiden's face and began to dampen the earth beneath him.

"He was the best friend that a person could ever have. We grew up as brothers, and tackled our entire lives together. He gave me the love of my life. He did all he could to make our lives the best they could possibly be no matter the circumstances. Even though you are gone, I'll never forget you Bill. I swear on Mariya's life I will never forget you!"

Mariya pulled her husband up into her arms and held him like he was a child. He laid in her arms and cried like he did as a young child against his mother's chest. As he cried harder and harder, he felt the churning feeling deep within him begin to push itself outwards towards his skin. The closer it got to releasing the harder Aiden cried, and the more he tried to hold onto it. Aiden felt it get to the edge of his skin. It bounced against the inner layers as he tried to keep it within himself until finally, it expelled all at once.

The energy that left his body sent a shock wave across the landscape. Everything it touched seemed to go into a state of mourning. The tree's leaves drooped, the blades of grass bent over instead of standing up straight, the constantly flowing fissures in Iceland quieted and stopped completely. The shock wave spread around the entire planet causing the same effect on everything. Every person was hit. They felt and gained a feeling of deep regret and sympathy for some reason none of them could explain. People came together within their families with their loved ones just to be together, to feel like they weren't bearing the feeling alone. The animals of the planet all stopped hunting each other, stopped playing, stopped living their everyday lives. They all sat down in respect and waited for the feeling to pass.

From directly above Aiden and Mariya a cloud formed and quickly spread. Rain began to gently fall from the cloud and began to soak the landscape. The cloud spread and spread until the entire globe was covered by it. The planet was mourning with Aiden and willingly sharing his burden. It was as if a greater force was working in the background to let Aiden know that everything was alright, that he was not alone in having to deal with the burden placed on him, that he was being forgiven and that everything was going to be alright. Aiden and Mariya cried for hours and hours and the entire planet mourned with them.

It was almost sunrise and Aiden and Mariya had both ran out of tears. The feeling he had had deep within him had completely gone and he was finally able to accept what had happened and begin to move on with it. Mariya turned to him and looked at him lovingly.

"How are you doing? Do you feel any better now?"

Aiden gave her a broken smile.

"I honestly do Mariya. I still feel horrible about it but the feeling I had that was eating at me is gone. I think I'll be able to move on now."

Mariya lightened up a bit, her eyes red from all of the crying.

"I am so happy to hear that, and so sorry about Bill. I know you loved him honey."

Aiden smiled a bit.

"I did love him. He was my brother. That being said, he wouldn't want me to be like this, I know that for a fact. I will get Apocolyptica for this. I will destroy him I swear it Mariya."

She looked down and then back up at him.

"I know you will, but right now you have more important things to worry about."

Aiden nodded.

"I know I do. Can I tell you something Mariya?"

She looked at him with a funny look.

"Of course sweetie, you can tell me anything."

He began to talk to her about what had happened when he started crying in her arms.

"Right before that whole thing happened I had something inside of me trying desperately to get out. It pried at me and dug its way through my skin. I've had that feeling since my fight with Bill and it was eating away at me. When it was trying to escape my body, for some reason I didn't want to let it go. I wanted to hold onto it forever, but the more I fought the harder it tried to escape. After it got out I had already wished it was still there, even though it caused me all of that pain and misery. Once it was out it caused what happened to happen. I wonder what it was?"

Mariya shrugged her shoulders.

"I have no idea honey, but I am sure whatever it was, it tried so hard to get out of your body for a good reason. Like I said, when you hold those things in they eat at you. It's a good thing it was let out. Whatever it was, it leaving your body gave you the strength to move on, to let go."

Aiden seemed pleased with the answer. They stood up to gather their things. The cloud was still blanketing the entire planet. As they had gathered everything Aiden looked up to the sky to the spot where Bill and him had fought. He thought to himself.

"I wish I had an explanation for what happened there. I wonder why there was such a massive reaction? What force could possibly want to help me bear such a burden for no reason?"

As he thought those words, the cloud opened up and a beam of light shown down directly on Aiden and Mariya. It was the most beautiful light they had ever seen. It was heavenly. It shown upon them for a few minutes and they couldn't pull themselves from it because of the shear beauty. That's when he heard it, the answer to his questions.

"I'm just trying to do my job."


End file.
